Naruto REAL
by wertyit
Summary: Uchiha Shisui did many things. He brought up an Uchiha crossbreed, planned the Uchiha massacre, attained the Mangekyou Sharingan. Then he gave this gift to Itachi. Smart.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Hi! Please Rate and Review! Comments about how I can improve my writing would be really helpful. Thanks a lot, and enjoy!

From suggestions of some reviewers, I'm putting the explanation of each chapter for the first four chapters below. But read the chapter before the explanation!

**Prologue**

The Uchiha ducked low under his opponent's spinning kick, a kunai flipping into his hand. With one swift motion, he used his weapon to rip through a core nerve in the Suna shinobi's back. As the kunoichi crumpled to the floor, the Uchiha leapt into the air, kicking her head with his heel in order to propel himself forward at another ninja. Immediately, the paralyzed kunoichi's neck was broken. Upon reaching the anguished ninja, the Uchiha engaged him in a fast set of melee combat. The sound of clashing kunai could be heard. Finally, the Suna shinobi managed to take a cut off the Uchiha. Blood spurted. A smirk leaked out of the stoic shinobi's face. Alas, the Konoha Nin was tiring. Suddenly, the Uchiha grabbed his neck and plunged his kunai into his stomach. Screaming, the shinobi tried to stab his opponent in the eye, but the kunai merely hit air as the metal cut through a normal Bunshin. Above his doppelganger, the Uchiha finished his final hand seal and blew multiple small fireballs. Two hit the shinobi's head, the other five blasting two more Suna Nin.

The Uchiha landed perfectly, drawing out his Fuuma Shuriken in tandem. Raising the armed hand, he pointed it at the four jounin standing in front of him. "Four to go."

Yelling out battle cries like the most unprofessional genin, the jounin allowed their emotions to take control of their bodies. Indeed, they were moving faster and were able to use more strength, but they soon tired. Leaping out of the way, the Uchiha swung his large shuriken at them, dispatching one by surprise. Still in the air, the Uchiha executed many hand seals in quick succession.

" Katon! Goukayuu no jutsu!" The Uchiha patented grand fireball spewed out of the ANBU's mouth, and the large sphere of chakra fire extinguished the Suna shinobis' life in a matter of seconds.

The Uchiha landed on the ground, wiping off a trickle of blood that oozed from the small cut he had obtained. Around him lay the bodies of ten Suna Jounin, the ANBU collected his shuriken back into its holster and took off his mask.

Uchiha Shisui, known as The Mirage, said, "None to go."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: This prologue is real short, but the later chapters will be longer. Rate and review, please! It's appreciated.

Summary… or something like that… : An introduction to Uchiha Shisui's skill and power to build up for the later chapters. This is a short scene of one of his missions where he took out ten Sand Jounins easily. You see how he coldbloodedly kills the people without sparing them. There are a few more hints about this.


	2. Chapter One Treachery

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

Okay, **I've rewritten this chapter** to the expense of updating my fifteenth chapter. Please forgive me. This was done on a constant request of Winni… I mean, Aknut. I know it's been a bit slow this week, but I've done many things.

I collected my report book the second time, I've finished Death Note the manga, I've fainted after stabbing my foot with two pins, pulling it out, and seeing my own blood, I've had a sleepover which consisted of unconciously hugging two friends, being peeled off, while I was totally asleep, I've been painfully injured by ice (skating), and I got scared watching the lamest show in the Universe.

Enjoy the Chapter.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter One Treachery**

Itachi sat on the side of the main temple of the Nakano Shrine, shadowed by trees and walls, away from view. Opposite him, wax was splattered on the wall, and pieces of his candleholder was on the floor. He had hurled it at least two hours ago, but the anger within the Uchiha still burned.

Itachi ducked his head, clearing the last of his thoughts. Standing up, he then walked away from the Shrine, his fury unsated from the meeting…

… The Uchihas had always disliked Itachi. He was still a genin, but about three years ago, when he first started, he was already at Chuunin level. They called him a bootlicker, or one with the potential to be a criminal. But Itachi had known the truth from the beginnng. They were afraid of his power, knowing that he would surpass them all and have the ability to wipe them of in one shot._ Yes, that must be it. _

So it was no surprise that Itachi had waited in his room, which faced the gates of the Nakano Shrine, and watched for the last Uchihas to enter before he would go in.

It was traditional for the ones to call for a meeting to bear torches, this time, it was the three Uchihas, Yuuhi, Inabi, and Tekka. Itachi felt anger burn within at the sight of them. He took in their swaggers and the smirks on their faces. They were always the first to question him whenever a crime had possible connections to the Sharingan, which was almost major crime, it seemed.

Itachi followed behind silently, shifting with the wind, his footsteps lost on all ears. He lifted the seventh tatami mat with one hand, his other holding a lit candleholder. Then voices reached his ears as he was lowering himself down.

"… heard from Yashiro that he saw Fugaku talking privately to Hyuuga Hizashi. If Hizashi is the head of the Chuunin Exam this year, what do you think they were talking about?" Tekka "asked", waiting for the obvious answer.

"Fugaku was persuading Hizashi to let his son pass this year? Never knew he had that in him," Inabi said.

Yuuhi chuckled and said, "Are you sure 'never'?"

For some strange but obvious reason, the three Uchihas laughed, their laughter echoeing through the passageway and ringing in Itachi's head.

_What Shisui said was true. Those who can't measure their own capacity are truly weak, _Itachi thought. Still, he sat on the tatami mats beside the hole, wondering if what Yuuhi and the others had concluded was true. Had his father really done such a thing?

A sudden burst of murmurings below ground woke Itachi from his reverie, and the nine-year old ran quickly but silently through the passageway. Itachi waited at the door, listening through the crack that had been left open. He could see Uchihas talking, which was not like how his father would usually keep the peace. Fugaku himself seemed to be in confusion with himself.

Fugaku asked, "Are you trying to ruin this clan? We can't stage a rebellion! We're the peace keepers, the weapon of Konoha!"

"Exactly, Fugaku-san, exactly. We are the peace keepers. We are the weapon of Konoha. We are this powerful, so how hard will it be to take over Hidden Leaf, Fugaku-san?" Yuuhi said silkily. "Will having an entire village to the Uchihas be a great honour? The largest and most powerful village, controlled by us?"

"And what is the point?" Fugaku asked gravely.

"Do you not see this village rotting. We might have won the past three Ninja World Wars, but over time, this village is still getting complacent, weakening. And technology! The Council still doesn't want to upgrade this village. Currently, we are second last in terms of technology. With advancement in this aspect, the other villages can overpower us easily! But, we Uchihas can liberate Konoha. We will become the first, perhaps trade with the Outer Realm too. Then, we can liberate the entire Ninja Realm (World) by dominating it," Tekka said, changing tack immediately, his voice silky and persuasive.

"Fugaku, you've always worked hard to prove that the Uchihas are not inferior to the Hyuugas, that the Sharingan is not some payoff of the Byakugan. And I agree, we can easily oppose them with our current state…"

Itachi listened as fear stirred in his stomach. He turned to his father, knowing he would do something.

"So this is for the honour of our clan?" Fugaku asked.

_No! _Itachi thought desperately, his father couldn't give in for this!

"Yes," Yuuhi replied, victory was his._ If not, Fugaku, you know I'll definitely call for a vote to have you overthrown. Knowing you, you won't give up your position as clan head so easily._

_But I'll have it one day._

"Very well. I say yes to this action," Fugaku said in defeat.

_What?! _Itachi screamed in his thoughts. He fled from the door as if a devil were within, the pounding as the Uchihas stomped on the ground in tribal unison matching his heartbeat…

"Father," Itachi said to the night's air. "What Yuuhi said is true. But I'll pass the Chuunin Exams without your help. Hizashi-san will never have to lift his finger. I will not become a Chuunin through your dirty hands. And I will never allow you to do such a thing to Sasuke."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Aniki? What's wrong?"

"Nothing… really," Itachi replied. Forcing a smile, Itachi took the small kunais from Sasuke's hands and walked to the middle of the target field. "I'll show you once only, Sasuke. I've got my Chuunin Exam tomorrow. I have to sleep early today."

Closing his eyes in deep concentration, flashes of where each target board was appeared in Itachi's photographic memory. Almost immediately, he knew how to hit each target dead centre.

Sasuke watched in awe as his brother seemed to disappear, then reappear fifty feet from the ground. Once Itachi reached the apex of his jump, he twisted down. Sasuke watched as he twisted and spun, seeing only flashes of sparks as kunais deflected from each other, his brother's hands in a blur of motion. Itachi landed on the ground, as fast as he had jumped.

Sasuke ran up to his brother, seeing the mesmerizing three pinned Sharingan for a moment before it changed back to onyx. "Aniki, that was amazing! You've hit bulls eye on every single board! Even Shisui couldn't do it until he was twelve! Father said so!"

Itachi poked Sasuke playfully on the forehead. "Baka. He didn't have the Sharingan until then, remember?"

Sasuke tackled Itachi into the ground and the brother's rolled in the grass, laughing merrily as they traded mild insults.

Itachi allowed himself to be pinned as Sasuke sat on him. "Shall we go? Father said he wanted us… fifteen minutes ago."

_I know. But I don't want to see him. _Itachi feigned ignorance. "Oh yeah… yeah, yeah. Let's go then."

They collected the kunais and shurikens from the boards and floor and put it in a small gray bag, which Sasuke slung across his back proudly. Then he jumped onto Itachi's back and said, "Run!"

Itachi started off in a quick stride, and they passed downtown quickly, fan girls doing various bimbotic things which would have shamed any man. Hawkers and other commonfolk said their greetings to the Uchihas, offering a variety of street food. Ninjas from other clans glared at the brothers before glaring at another clan.

They were about a street to the Uchiha mansion when Sasuke said to Itachi, "Aniki, Father's the chief of the Konoha Police Corps, right? So is that why the Uchiha embelm is on the Chinese star, because the chief is an Uchiha?"

_Uchiha, Uchiha, Uchiha! They're everywhere! This name I bear just won't leave me alone. _Then Itachi answered, "No. Generations back, there was no Konoha Police Corps, just the Uchihas who took it upon themselves to be the peacekeepers of Konoha. Therefore, the Uchiha fan will always be part of the KPC symbol."

"So that means anyone can join KPC now?"

"Only elite ninjas can become a policeman here."

"Amazing, that means that Father is a powerful ninja, I always thought he was! Aniki, do you want to become a cop one day."

"No," Itachi replied a bit too strongly. "It's not my style."

"Responsibility takes over style, Itachi. I hope that you'll be able to fufill your duty as an Uchiha."

Sasuke turned his head and hopped off Itachi's back. "Good afternoon, father."

Fugaku spared Sasuke a dimnishing glance before turning to Itachi. "Both of you are late. I requested you to be back twenty minutes ago. There are important things that I must discuss with both of you."

Sasuke stared at his sandals._ Both of us? Or only Aniki, Father? You never see me._

Itachi stared back at his father with cold indifference. "Let's go then. Time seems to be so precious, doesn't it."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fugaku looked at Sasuke. The boy looked up expentantly. Then the moment passed. Fugaku was looking back at Itachi. "So, your Chuunin Exam starts tomorrow."

Sasuke turned away. His fist tightened around his pants._ I knew it. For the past hour, all you've talked to is Aniki. Itachi this, Itachi that. Why can't it be Sasuke, even if its only once?_

"Yes, and what of it?" Itachi glanced away, as if the conversation was a waste of his time.

"It's your only priority now. Shisui passed on his first Chuunin test. You have to pass too, and perform even better than that boy. I know that he's your friend, Itachi, but as my heir, the other Uchihas will talk if you fail."

"So, your status will always be better than being a friend? A_ moral _person?" Itachi asked.

Fugaku seemed confused for a moment, then grim features set over his face.

"You weren't at the meeting yesterday, Itachi," Fugaku said slowly.

"No, not in front of you. But I was there! I heard everything, about what the Uchihas want," Itachi said contemptously.

Sasuke looked quizically at Itachi. What did that mean?

"Our line has been the head family for generations now, Itachi. I acted fast so that I, and you, will stay as the chiefs for the days to come. Whatever that we will be doing will follow my orders. The Uchihas will rise to greater heights."

_Are we doing a charity event to raise funds? Anikii said something about being moral. So he wants Father to take part in the charity event with the other Uchihas? Er… Father thinks that this will shame the family name? I don't see why_, Sasuke thought to himself.

"Even at the expanse of your position, Father, you have to do what's right. This way, you'll bring our family honour. I'm leaving. Chew on it… Father," Itachi said, ending the conversation. He stood up and bowed, but his black eyes never left Fugaku, then he left. Sasuke stood up hastily, bowed deeply and turned to follow his brother. He was just so hurt and disappointed. Wasn't he Fugaku's son too? Why was Itachi the only one Fugaku saw?

"Sasuke, train hard," Fugaku said. Sasuke turned around quickly. "You just might reach your brother one day."

Sasuke spun around and ran off.

Fugaku stared after his second son's retreating figure, thinking that Itachi had told Sasuke what had happened and Sasuke was disappointed in him. But Itachi was too much. Sasuke was too young to comprehend anything. But he had been sure that Itachi would understand, too.

Fugaku sat crosslegged, thinking. Itachi's words to him had already leaked from his mind.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Itachi sat under the maple tree, red and yellow leaves scattered about. He threw the kunai up, caught it, then threw it again. The cycle continued as he looked at how the metal spun, anticipating its movement. A crunch of cripsy leaves alerted Itachi, and the boy stopped his game, setting the kunai on the ground beside him.

Shisui walked up to Itachi and waved. Itachi smiled back. Sasuke was a good companion, but being with Shisui was like having a true responsive friend. Shisui sat beside Itachi, taking up the kunai. "Your father again?"

"Yes. You weren't at the meeting yesterday because you were doing a mission, right? Then I'll fill you in. The Uchihas are planning a rebellion. And my Father agreed. He thinks that he can control them after some time, but I know he won't take much action. He's passive when it comes to preserving his position as clan head."

"Being clan head means a lot, you have all Uchihas reporting to you. You aren't the one being ordered about, taking a minor role in things with a person on the top knowing everything that's going on."

"Shisui!"

"Yes, but that's the truth. But he really shouldn't. He can't do things he can't do. The Uchihas don't know either they think they're so great. Konoha can't be defeated that easily. Our most powerful ninja is only A ranked. No S ranked ninjas, let alone U ranked."

"But that's not the point. I'm talking about morals here, Shisui," Itachi said broodily.

But Shisui countered, "This is the point, Itachi. Listen. These Uchihas don't measure their capacity at all. It's because of their lack that they're so useless, so weak. They won't be able to measure the capacity of others, because their so blind. You understand don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," Itachi said, thinking back to the night before. Shisui was probably talking about how the Uchiha men thought that they were so great that they could purify the world. Once again, Shisui hit the mark. Itachi smiled. Then he saw that Shisui was drawing something on the dirt with the kunai.

It started out as a Level Three Sharingan, then the commas thickened and lengthed, connecting with the end of the pupil, before it broke past the pupil in long, thin spikes. Shisui drew it masterfully, as if he had been designing it for a long time, his eyes holding admiration for it, dark ambition behind those pupils. Itachi recoiled as the black eyes glowed red.

"What's that?" Itachi asked, gesturing at the sketch.

"I won't be tied down, Itachi. I'll exceed my capacity," Shisui said, his lips curving into a nasty grin. "This will be the mark that I'll dominate one day, it'll be the mark that represents me and my ideals, it'll be the mark that shows that I've exceeded my capacity."

"Thanks a lot, Shisui, I'll be going now."

"No prob, Itachi," Shisui said and smiled. _You're too gullible for a ninja so good, Itachi. I know you thought that I was talking about 'not to be tied down by what the Uchihas think as liberators'. Anyway, I've completed Step Four of my plan. Now for step five, the most important part. If not, all of it will go to waste._

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fire Country is split into many villages. The biggest is the Hidden Leaf Village, its capital. The other parts were covered by dense forests, large lakes, ports, and pockets of land where commonfolk made a humble living and a few ninja were scattered about.

Kasuikan was one such village, just next to Lightning Country. It was manned by two ninja but mostly commoners. Criminals often used it to illegally immigrate from the Rai to the Leaf, or the Leaf to the Rai at random. But missing nin rarely came by as it wasn't financially attractive enough.

After the mission in Sand Country, Shisui had taken eight months leave. All was going according to his plan. He had gained Yuuhi's trust and used the man to rally the other Uchihas, and had destabilised Uchiha Fugaku's postion as clan leader On the outside, it was Yuuhi taking action, but on the inside, Shisui was the brains of the matter. They were all his chess pieces, easily moved. There were only a few more steps to checkmate.

_That is how powerful I am. I alone have the strength to manipulate these unworthy vermin. The rooks of my board._

It had not been easy, but he had found out after many weeks at the Uchiha Archives that their advanced bloodlimit was extremely versatile. It had the ability to evolve from level one to two to three, become the Mangekyou, and could easily be used by others, as proven by Hatake Kakashi with Obito's eye.

So he had wondered, could the Sharingan and another advanced bloodlimit be within one body?

It could. There were ten such cases, where Uchihas had eloped and married some other man. But of the ten cases, there were only two babies that lived, and were still living to this day.

Shisui had visited the Hidden Mist first, to find that the baby was a thirty year old, older than him, and was half blind due to deformations. He only had a level one Sharingan and could control ice by a fraction. Shisui had been disappointed, but it had proven his theory.

So he was here in Kasuikan, hoping that the Uchiha woman that had married that Rai user had borne a useful baby that would be his ticket to the Akatsuki along with his plans for the Uchiha clan.

His first hope was that the baby was still young, in an orphanage as both parents had died. Entering the orphan home, Shisui lined up behind ten people. Judging by the men's clothing and language, they were probably gangsters or street scum planning to take in some followers or thieves. Legal and cheaper than slave trade. The females were probably prostitutes or fake geishas looking for cute tweeties. Shisui frowned. Hopefully his target hadn't been signed to some idiot.

The queue soon narrowed down to him. "Is there anyone here with the house name Aikawa?"

Apparently, the portly kunoichi had never done a single training ever since she was posted here. Even the head protector was trying to unwrap from her large head. Also, she wanted to give some lip. "Who are you? And are you related to the mentioned orphan?"

"In a way, woman," Shisui replied coolly. To think that filth would question power. The woman flipped through the crumpled pages of the large hand book, a stubby forefinger fingering each name on the list. Ten pages went, twenty, finally thirty. Shisui was in such anticipation that his patience was in shreds. Finally, the meaty finger halted at a page. The ink was slightly faded, but the name was clear nevertheless. Kazuya Aikawa. "You wanted this boy?"

"Yes. Immediately," he ordered, caring not to add 'filth'. As the woman disappeared from her desk, Shisui looked at the statistics. It was a boy only four years old, to his relief. He could still mould the kid to his colour.

Then the boy came. A bit skinny and short, with black spiky hair falling over his eyes or standing in strands. But Shisui liked the eyes the most. Curious, frightened, but hardened, unlike the sheltered pimps back in Konoha.

Procedures down, Shisui let the boy follow him back to the inn, where he locked the door and looked down, savouring the moment. He had planned for two years, saved all his savings so that he could train the mixed descendent into the ultimate weapon that would do his every bidding. With such a prize, the Akatsuki would welcome him and they would be the ultimate team, the most powerful beings on the planet. Finally, creating the shinobi he wanted that would measure his capacity for him had come.

Shisui looked down, his lips stretched into a crazed smile. All the boy had to do now was to obey him.

" Aikawa Kazuya, I am about to propose to you a life that you will dedicate to me. I will train you to be one of the best shinobis that ever lived. But if you don't want to, I will kill you right now."

Those wide onyx eyes widened in shock and fear. Shisui thought he saw it flash crimson, and those tiny hands sparkle with electricity for a moment. His grin widened. Then the boy's answer came. "I want to live."

Shisui smiled his widest ever._ You have obeyed me. _"Very good. You are mine to use now, Aikawa Kazuya."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three years later.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Itachi was stood on the landing in the shadows, watching Shisui and Yuuhi walk past, engrossed in conversation. What was Shisui doing with Yuuhi? Itachi was confused. Shisui had disappeared for long periods of time over these three years, only popping in for a few days, no longer than a week. This had been his best friend's longest yet. Two months.

_Will the rebellion start now? Are they planning to kill father and us? Shisui, what are you doing and what is your stance? Where've you been, gathering supporters for the rebellion or what? I don't know you anymore, Shisui_, Itachi thought, his eyes betraying his hurt while his face was a cold mask. He observed Shisui and Yuuhi carefully, reading their lips.

"Today is the day then?" Yuuhi asked.

"Yes, gather all except_ them _at the Uchiha Onsen," Shisui replied. His face looked irritated, as if Yuuhi had asked him that question a million times.

"What do I do?"

"Yuuhi-san, I've said this lots of times already. Don't make me repeat myself. Plan A and Plan B. Leave it all to me. Just keep this in mind: You'll be clan head soon enough," Shisui said. Itachi saw the smirk on Shisui's face.

Suddenly, Sasuke slid down the banister and popped down at his feet.

"Aniki! You promised to teach me some cool moves today! Don't go back on your word again!" Sasuke shouted excitedly.

"Later, ototo, be queit! I'm doing something now!" Itachi hissed angrily.

"Man! Aniki, don't do this to me!" Sasuke shouted. Itachi saw Shisui look over at their house and he turned away quickly. He bent down to be level with Sasuke and said, "Hey, hey, shh. I promise to do it tomorrow, okay? After all, your lunch break is ending soon. You have to be at school. There won't be much for us to do."

Sasuke shoved his feet into his sandals and stormed away for the Academy.

Itachi sighed and went to the kitchen.

"Ah, Itachi, I was just about to call you. Congratulations. A year into Chuunin you were promoted to ANBU. Now, two years later, your outstanding record has promoted you to ANBU captain, beating even Hatake Kakashi's record! You've done well."

"Thank you, Father," Itachi replied, forcing a smile. "But, it's been thirty six months, I've approached you thirty times. Thirty times you rejected me. But behold! All official Uchiha meetings have stopped. No one really listens to you any more. They conduct secret meetings on their own. Look, even our clan status have dropped. Sandaime-Hokage suspects us. We are in danger. Anyday those people can come and kill us."

"Those people are your fellow clan members, Itachi. Don't use that tone with me. And everything is under control. I have a few people reporting to me."

"Unreliable information."

"Won't you listen, ANBU captain? Please, just shut up."

Itachi closed his mouth. He tilted his head at his mother who was attending the dishes.

Whispering so that only Fugaku could hear, Itachi said rudely, "So you'll throw away our lives, including yours? To throw the Uchihas and Konoha into jeopardy? To become the first Uchiha clan head who led us to our downfall? Is this your vision of 'carrying the line'"?

Fugaku could not find the words to answer. Itachi smoothed his shirt and said loudly. "I'm leaving. Chew on it… Father."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shisui hid a smile as he glanced at Itachi. He did owe Sasuke a favour now… for his incompetent ignorance. Exposing his very own brother.

Shisui chuckled softly. Yuuhi looked at him questioningly, but Shisui bade no answer.

The Uchiha Spring was relaxing. It was well run by Uchiha Fuhirro, with the best outdoor onsen in Hidden Leaf Village. This was unknown to most, since the Uchihas kept to themselves. Another reason why it was such a good location for a Uchiha-Rebel meeting was because of its underground rooms. Soundproof, hidden, perfectly simonized with a huge hot tub.

Stripping themselves naked, the Uchiha males stepped into the tub and talked. Finally, the last of Uchihas were present, including Uchiha Shisui. He stood out because of his flaming orange hair, which was a pigment defect from birth. Nonetheless, it made him feel detached from these filthy men that he was forced to bathe with in order to complete his plan.

"Elders. Brothers. We have a final move to make before the Uchiha invasion. We have contracted ronin and missing nin from many places. The army we now have is enough to conquer Konoha."

The Uchihas looked intently at Shisui, who smirked. "For now, let us celebrate for our hard work! Soak here, soak now, soak in victory that is ours to take."

Uchihas decades older than he cheered. Shisui smirked contemptly at them, and yet they took it for a grin. _No doubt unworthy idiots. Expendable. At my disposal. No ninja should let up before the mission is completed. Basic shinobi sense._

_Once again, these idiots fail to measure their capacity. At least I can… for them… for now._

Shisui's grin widened as time passed. At a sleight of hand, he swallowed a drug. _Let yourselves fall at the heat of this water, o mighty elders._

Finally, four hours of soaking, relaxation, and talking, the Uchiha men became drowsy, delirious, but too weak to get from the pool. Shisui took another pill before taking out a smoke bomb he had been hiding. With a flick of his wrist, Shisui allowed the bomb to explode, drugging the Uchihas he had called his family.

Then, Shisui spoke. "Great elders. Let this meeting officially commence. Now that we have enjoyed ourselves, allow me to speak. Uchiha Hiro has and will be against our plans. He is a coward. He will not lead us. He will stop us. We have to eliminate him and his family."

The Uchihas nodded doppily.

"So, are you with me?"

"Yes!"

"Are you with me to kill Uchiha Hiro?"

"Yes!"

"To kill Uchiha Hiro, his wife, and children?"

"Yes!"

"Will you back away?"

"Never!"

"Very well, let us begin then."

Shisui rubbed his hands in anticipation. These mugheads were far too stupid. A simple dope and they were at his control. He was right to call them vermin, stupid minions.

It would be his right to finish off Itachi, who trusted him oh so deeply. Shisui smiled.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kazuya wiped himself down, then looked at his back in the mirror. His fingers traced the seal, his cold eyes trailing down in disgust. If only he had rejected Shisui-sama's offer. Death was so much better than what he'd been through for the past years.

Shisui-sama had told him to bid his time as the plan was being completed. But if the plan failed, which Shisui-sama had highly doubted, Kazuya was to go in and save him.

Shisui-sama had not said anything, but Kazuya perfectly understood the hidden meaning. Shisui-sama did not want to fail. If Kazuya rescued him, then it would be a debt repaid, part of his attachment to Shisui-sama would fall. And Shisui-sama's plan would fail. Shisui-sama had rescued him, it was a life. Kazuya rescues him, and it would be a life for a life. He could be free.

Kazuya turned away. Not of the curse though. He would never be free of that. At least he knew who had made him a slave to Shisui-sama. Shisui-sama had talked of the man a lot, shown him a picture. Shisui-sama had been urged to break his own capacity because of that man.

Kazuya tightened his fingers over his back. He would kill that man.

The level three Sharingan flared. The reflected image on the pupil was…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mikoto slapped her husband, hurt welled in her navy eyes, a blue so dark that appeared black. "I'm so disappointed in you! I thought you would be the one to always do the right thing, on the right track, the good leader of the Uchihas!"

"That's a bit out of line, Mikoto," Fugaku said, trying to sate the fiery tiger he had once believed to be a woman. The tiger slapped him again.

"It's not, Fugaku. You know what? I'm taking Itachi and Sasuke to my parents house until you know what to do."

Mikoto stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door for the first time. She yelled like a banshee, then raced up the steps, ordering her two sons to pack. She softened up to Sasuke, who was young. She folded his clothes and stuffed them into his pack. Sasuke ran for his toothbrush and slid it into the empty slot in his kunai pouch, tied the pouch, and placed it on top of his clothes. Mikoto smiled and ruffled Sasuke's black spikes. She bent down and kissed her son's forehead. She hugged him and whispered into his ear. "We're leaving, only temporarily, Sasuke. We'll come back."

"Yes… mom."

Mikoto went to Itachi's room. He seemed more eager to leave. A backpack was slung over his shoulder, a weapon's pouch attached to it. A katana was sheathed and in his hands. "I'm ready to leave, Mother."

"Okay, let's go."

Sasuke followed his brother and mother out of the house, wondering why they were leaving Father. Father had not said anything, not even to Itachi. He just sat there, chewing his food methodically, not glancing at them as they left._ How can he be so cold? _was the last thing Sasuke thought before he stepped away from the porch.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuuhi and a group of Uchihas arrived at the Uchiha mansion, lying in the central of the Uchiha district. They beared no torches, not a flicker of light. Instead, they wore standard issue jounin vests. Personal vendetta or not, this was a service to konoha.

Getting rid of Hiro was like liberating the Uchihas to change konoha for the better; to reach their goal. All in all, there were fifteen of them, ranked as the most powerful. Split into three groups of five, one wriggled through the grass of the back yard, another stealthily scaled the walls at the East Wing, and another climbed over the tall gates of the front door.

Surrounding the compound, the men took their positions and drew out their speciality weapons, The first group waited for the second to spread out and cover them before heading in, walking up walls into windows, picklocking the main doors.

The bamboo pipe hit steadily on the rock, water trickling into its base. As it filled, it flipped down, emptying, before continuing the cycle.

Meanwhile, Fugaku was unaware of the treachery occuring outside of his house. His thoughts were more concentrated on how his wife and children had abandoned him. He was slowly beginning to understand what he had did wrong._ I know I've done wrong. I should have apologised._

Yuuhi led the four men to the master bedroom. They made no sound, the door opening without a whisper. Yuuhi crept up behind Fugaku…

_How do I apologise? I'm sorry Itachi, Mikoto… Sasuke. I need to apologise to Sasuke the most. I have been… a bad father to you both. I should go now, when things can still be salvaged…_

Fugaku let out a sharp groan as his hair was grabbed and his head yanked backwards. He felt a warm breath on his neck. Then Yuuhi's voice sounded, "Fugaku, I'm here for you. We're here for you. We've decided that you are treacherous and unreliable, unfit to be the Uchiha clan head. I see your wife and kids have left you to us? Don't worry, we'll appease them good, then we'll go to them. Don't struggle. We have you surrounded. You won't escape, you'll know they'll die dying."

Fugaku grunted and grabbed Yuuhi's hand by the wrist. Yuuhi yelled as Fugaku's Iron Grip took hold. Then Tekka rushed forward and yanked Fugaku's arm out of its socket. The clan head screamed and fell. His face met with the butt of a kunai, and he was ripped backwards.

Then the other four Uchihas closed him, slicing his arms with kunai, laughing as they beat him to the ground. Nothing fatal. Nothing too drastic. They needed to keep him as alive and as well as they could, so that the others could enjoy tearing him apart. It would be a savage celebration.

Once they had their fun, they kicked the regal man out of his room and down the staircase. Fugaku screamed in pain, feeling his bones cracking as he gazed helplessly forward, his mouth foaming gruesomely.

Helpless and alone, the former clan head was dragged across the front yard and tied to the punsishment frame.

Yuuhi put a hand on the wood and looked at Fugaku. "Upon this frame has many a man died, judged and punished by you, Fugaku. Today, you are punished for not doing your duty as our clan head. I, representing the rest of the clan, condemn you."

Anari took up his favourite chain whip, whirled it above his head, before cracking it on Fugaku's flesh. His chakra made the chain become red hot, and it branded Fugaku with each lash. Fugaku let out screams until he could scream no more. He begged for his life, struggling against his bonds against the punishment frame that they would let him be free.

His clan, who had lost their respect for him many months ago, laughed spitefully at the beaten man, who had been turned into a disfigured manikin.

Fugaku felt blood dribble from his mouth, his heart thumping against his broken ribs. He was hurt, but still felt very alive. He wished that he had not trained so hard for the past three decades of his ninja occupation. Then he might have died long ago.

The fire within his Uchiha heart was dimnished within that hour.

Fugaku felt like it was forever, but he knew it was not, as the dark night was illuminated by the pale sheen of early morning.

Shisui watched on as Yuuhi finally drew his battle cleaver, held it high above his head, smirked at Fugaku, before bringing the sword down across Fugaku's chest.

Guts spilled and blood splashed across the air like the work of an Abstract Expressionist.

A red dawn had appeared.

Shisui scratched a non existent stubble thoughtfully. He was standing behind many excited men, all who were driven by bloodlust. He was disgusted at their stupidity, which was filth in his opinion, but they were useful for one of his final actions. Itachi not being at home was all part of his plan.

From the beginning, he had known what sort of man Uchiha Fugaku was. An old school, but stubborn person who treasured his position as clan head more than his morals. It was as with the current Sasuke. They had both been driven to please their father in their want to be acknowledged.

As Itachi was different, he would have been angered by his father's actions. Therefore, the boy would definitely leave home one day, Shisui had known.

Maybe Mikoto and Sasuke not being at home was another plus side. Shisui would kill them before his eyes, strip Itachi of nothing even further, let the man know that he was powerless.

"Shisui, what's the next course of action?" Yuuhi asked Shisui, grinning while his face and clothes were splattered with blood. Shisui drew back from the piece of living "filth".

"We go to the Uchiha brothers, of course. Twenty men are to be led by Yuuhi and Tekka to Mikoto's family house and slaughter all of them, the rest will stay here while we plan for the rebellion," Shisui addressed the Uchihas.

In the end, thirty-five men went, but Shisui was pleased. Itachi could take care of them for him. Meanwhile, the remaining Uchihas had rushed to the Nakano Shrine, screaming war cries and bloodlust, which was unlike them, but like their victorious mood.

Shisui was left alone on the front yard of the Uchiha Mansion, as usual._ I will always be alone, for no one can touch me. Kazuya may wait for me, but I am essentially alone. I have the capcity to be._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Yay, on Aknut's request, I've rewritten the first chapter, hope that you've enjoyed it. This chapter is shorter than the original, but I've made things clearer, like how Itachi felt, defined Sasuke more, and what Shisui thinks. If you didn't get it (which would be my fault), Shisui is a thinking genius. He plots and plans. It wasn't shown that much in the original, but I've been inspired by Death Note's Yagami Raito (Light).

Hope you've enjoyed this chapter! To those waiting for the fifteenth chapter, it'll take a bit longer, sorry.

Please review! A critique, a nice word, anything you want to know or don't get. I appreciate them all, I dance like a gigolo, and laugh like a hyena.

If you preferred the original, or want part of it to be in this, tell me how and I'll consider it. I just want to improve my writing.


	3. Chapter Two Betrayal versus Change

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Like I said in my rewritten first chapter, I'll be changing the first few chapters. This is the second chapter that I've totally rewritten, and I will change Chapter Three, so if after reading this chapter and chapter three is a bit different, you know why. The later chapters will not be changed.

Hope you like this chapter!

**Chapter Two- Betrayal versus Change**

Sasuke placed a hand over his thumping heart. He pulled the covers over his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

Every noise, every movement sent his nerves racking. Leaves rustled, tapping on the windows. Sasuke thought back to the horror flicks his brother used to bring back to watch with his friends. Eerie cackling that filled the air.

That was when he heard real feet padding into the house downstairs. He heard the familiar chink of a katana being drawn, familiar because Itachi trained with it almost everyday for the past few years.

His aunt had been washing dishes. Sasuke feared something he could not place. The water was continuously gushing from the tap; but his aunt was a staunch environmentalist.

There was something wrong. Dark auras filled with bloodlust had entered the house.

"Aniki," Sasuke whispered, gripping the sheets tightly.

"I'm up, stay where you are" Itachi answered from behind him. Itachi rolled off the bed without a sound and took his katana which was leaning against the wall. He thumbed the hilt and moved close to the door. Feeling out with one hand, Itachi touched a weapons pouch and threw it to Sasuke.

"Whatever happens, Sasuke, keep calm and follow my orders, alright?" Itachi said calmly.

Sasuke made a weird noise as he nodded.

"You've practised for a long time. There's no reason to miss now. Hit anyone who isn't Mother or me, okay?"

"Yeah," Sasuke answered firmly. He opened the pouch and drew two fans of kunai. It was time to make the Uchiha clan proud of his father's son. But if they killed him… or Itachi, what would happen? The kunais in Sasuke's hand trembled._ I don't want to die yet!_

Sasuke heard footsteps echo throughout the hallway. Itachi was propped against the wall, ready to jump anyone who entered immediately. A lighter set of footsteps entered the hallway, and that person threw the door open.

"Sasuke, Itachi, run!" Sasuke heard his mother shout. Then he heard the scratchy thumps of kunai hitting flesh. He saw blood trickle down her mouth. And her soothing presence died away. She hit the floor with metal sticking from her back, dead and eyes wide open.

Sasuke's pupils contracted in shock. The light from the hallway that had fallen on his face shut down as people destroyed the lamps one by one.

Itachi stared at his mother's fallen body. It only meant one thing. _The Uchihas are moving, and father is dead._

It might have meant that he had lost his mother too, but there wasn't time for such emotions. Growling, he slashed away three shinobis before throwing himself down the hallway, cutting one Uchihas through the heart, stepping off the man's thigh and flipping over a yelling Uchiha, severing his head.

Itachi sidestepped a Ryuuka Jutsu and kicked the user so hard that his neck snapped. Ducking down, Itachi dealt a swiping kick and bringing his katana up through the falling Uchiha's face.

His Sharingan was on, foreseeing all and hynotising those who dared to gaze upon its cursed presence. Itachi danced passed Jounins and Chuunins, finally losing his katana into an Uchihas heart. Itachi flashed through familiar seals and watched fireballs blaze down the long corridor into oncoming Jounins, who used water jutsus to dispel the chakra fire.

Itachi whipped out fans of kunai and threw them, then he was moving before they even hit flesh. As two men fell, he was already using shuriken to deflect kunai into other bodies, just as he had in front of Sasuke during that training day.

Itachi fought faster than the normal eye, racing to beat honed Sharingan reflexes.

Itachi felt himself stumbling back as hordes of men cornered him back into the room which he dreaded; Sasuke was there.

To his surprise, kunai sailed past him into the jungle of Uchihas. _Great timing, ototo._

Itachi kicked away the nearest man into the others, stepped back, and slammed the door shut.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Renosuke stared as Itachi slammed the door in his face. Only three Uchihas were left. Their top men. Where was the hawk-masked ANBU member Shisui? Never mind that. _Deal with the Uchiha scum first._

Pulling out Fuuma Shurikens as the ultimate attack, they kicked the door open police style and charged in, holding out Fuuma Shuriken and standing there, police style.

Those three seconds of police break-and-enter strategy cost them. The whole room was plastered with explosive notes. Behind them, the door was shut by an Itachi clone. Renosuke stared as the Itachi spoke coldly and dangerously, "Bakuhatsu no jutsu."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Itachi's and Sasuke's steps faltered as they entered the Uchiha district. Itachi didn't bother covering Sasuke's eyes. He was too shocked himself._ Anyway_, now that he thought about it, _that's too idealistic._

"Wha… What is this?" Sasuke asked.

The pathway was littered with mutilated corpses, and more dead Uchihas were slumped against the walls, pinned with numerous weapons, even with a shop flagpost. Shurikens, kunais, swords, and spears were either sticking into once-alive material, or strewn on the floor.

A huge massacre had happened.

"Come, Sasuke. We don't have time to waste," Itachi commanded and ran into the forest of blank faces and blood.

Sasuke ran after his brother, concentrating on the billowing Uchiha crest, lifting up one foot, then the other with effort. His head was a swim of nausea. Great uncle Teyaki had given him a rice cracker the day before. He wasn't dead…

"Come, Sasuke!" Itachi pulled Sasuke forward. The boy began to throw up. "Brace up, kid."

"Let go of me!" Sasuke screamed suddenly. Itachi turned around and saw his brother's eyes. Desperation. Desolation. Incomprehension. Devastation.

"Let go of me! I want to go back to kaa-san!"

"They're dead! All of them! Come on! Whoever who killed them will kill us!" Itachi yelled back._ But what't the point of going back to the Uchiha Mansion?_ He asked himself. Dragging his brother deeper into the bloodbath, Itachi stepped into the Uchiha Mansion.

Itachi stared at the body stripped of clothes and strung on the punishment post.

"…Father."

Sasuke looked up, screamed and ran. Itachi ran after his brother. Sasuke only made it to the visitor's landing when Itachi caught him. Itachi wrapped his arms around his brother as he knelt, letting Sasuke sob into his shoulder. Itachi backed away from his grief and helplessness.

After he killed the friggin bastard who had done this… then he would allow himself to feel sad.

A dangerous aura behind him made Itachi let go of his brother. He had to be careful. Anyone who could massacred Uchihas so easily had to be really powerful, though definitely more tired than Itachi, who had fought off only twenty Uchihas.

His chakra was around half or even less, but he hazarded that the mass murderer was around there too.

Itachi avoided the hung and tortured body of his father, which was being pecked away by scavenger birds, as he walked towards the main training room. That was where the killing intent was, enamating from under the door and reaching out as if to swallow him. Itachi rested his hands on the handles of the double doors._ Now or never…_

The man watched, a haughty smirk playing on his lips, as the double doors slid open and Itachi walked in calmly. "You're here."

Perhaps it had been their long-strained relationship, maybe it was the rift of the Uchihas, because of his suspiscion, but Itachi wasn't surprised to see the shock of vermillion hair that flowed smoothly with the dark wind. Black of the Uchiha clothes. Red of the Sharingan and the blood that the man had washed himself with. "So, Shisui."

"Don't act calm, Itachi. You aren't a powerful shinobi at all. You can feel, you feel grief. I murdered your parents, I know you feel something, anger and hate, right?"

"No, Shisui, I feel nothing yet, but I know I'll kill you here."

"I was hoping you'd be intelligent enough to know that you won't measure up to me. You don't have the capacity to be my ruler."

"I strongly doubt that. Even your lovely uncle Yuuhi knew that I was the smartest of the Uchihas," Itachi added contemptuously.

"Nevertheless, small talk. Enough." Shisui's eyes were emotionless, empty, blank. So when the Sharingans glowed with chakra so suddenly, Itachi moved through his handseals.

"Too slow!"

A whisper of swift wind swept past him, a sound of shuriken imbedding soft wood behind him. A moment later, the fibres of his sleeve split, and Itachi ignored the pain as dark blood cut out of his skin and continued with his attack. "Gokakyuu no jutsu!"

"Earth Mine," Shisui spoke, a hand on the wall. A wall of compressed dirt and stone intercepted the fiery inferno._ Not bad, Itachi. Not bad at all… but it's not enough._ Shisui raised his hand, palm downwards. Beyond the dirt wall, his chakra connected with the wooden boards in the floor.

Itachi's Sharingan caught the anomalies beneath the tatami mat, then the wooden boards flew out of him. With one swift motion, Itachi drew his Shadow Windmill (Fuuma Shuriken) and cut through the planks with ease.

At this moment, a burst of orange broke through the earth wall. Shisui ducked under the wood splinters and jabbed his katana into Itachi's stomach. Itachi, shocked, looked downwards at the pooling crimson. He looked up again at Shisui's smiling, cold eyes. "Shisui… you-"

"What do you mean me?" Shisui asked mockingly. He twisted the blade, and Itachi coughed up blood in pain. "You should have known I would kill you all along. Our friendship only went so far, you kn-!"

Behind the two shinobis, Itachi held his katana firmly in Shisui's right chest, and his clone sank into the floor as dirt. Shisui turned his head. "You!"

Itachi stared coldly back, even though his heart was hammering with the pain of Shisui's betrayal. He unsheathed his katana of Shisui's body and let the man he had thought to be his best friend fall to the ground in a pool of spurting blood. Without a word, Itachi drew his katana back, then jabbed it forward.

The dying Shisui smirked. "Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu."

The explosion broke apart the training room, and Itachi was flung out of the door. He crumpled to the ground with some debris. His entire body was racked with agony beyond words, his right arm had been torn of his shoulder by the explosion. A boot pressed him further into the ground. Shisui's face loomed over him. "What a surprise, Uchiha Itachi. Sayonara."

Shisui raised his arm, and dropped the kunai. The dagger split the cold air. Itachi spasmed, then the blade ripped between his eyes, and he saw and felt no more.

Shisui took his foot off Itachi's chest. He then turned around and glared at the real Itachi. "Looks like the game of deception will never finish, will it."

Itachi stared hard with his Sharingan. His mind was racing._ What should I do next? What will he do._ Itachi watched as Shisui lifted a hand to adjust his forehead protector, but then he saw Shisui flash through one-handed seals as his hand moved skywards._ Boar. Rat. Monkey. Tiger._ Itachi leapt backwards, performing handseals of his own._ That's Katon Housenka!_ Itachi slammed a palm into the pond, knocking over the bamboo water feature as he did so. "Suiton Sujinheki (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)!"

Shisui smirked and ran forward. Itachi was too naïve this time. Would a water wall really smote fire? His ambition was greater than any of these idiots. "Go to hell, Itachi! Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

Itachi raised a one-handed ram seal. "Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Shisui felt himself being lifted into the air this time. There was no damage, only air pressure._ Luckily I was far away from the clone._

Itachi threw himself out of the Ryuuka Jutsu's way as it tore through his water defense. He rolled twice, then stopped at a crouched position. "Suiton Suiryidaan no jutsu!"

Itachi's water dragon grew out of the water wall. Shisui, still flying towards the water wall, twisted away and drew his arms out in defense. The beam of compacted water drove into his arms. Shisui yelled in agony as he flew backwards into the visitors' landing. He skidded to a stop, his head resting on his left. When his vision came into focus, Shisui smiled.

Sasuke stared fearfully at the mass murderer._ Why is all of this happening?_ He asked. He clutched his last kunai as he forced himself backwards._ Move. Move. MOVE!_ Sasuke leapt forward and charged, vengeance burning in his eyes with his kunai in hand. His legs pumped as he swung the kunai. He was almost there.

"Sasuke!" Itachi yelled as he pitched himself forwards for the landing.

Shisui hulled himself out, spared Itachi a cold but lustful smirk, then went for Sasuke. The tokubetsu Jounin easily grabbed Sasuke's wrist and yanked it backwards. Sasuke yelled and released the kunai. Shisui drew his fist back, then drove the clenched hand into Sasuke's abdomen. The boy crumpled easily to the floor, unconcious. Shisui smirked and stepped on the kunai, sucking it into the sole with his chakra. Then he turned towards Itachi. The thirteen-year old reached the foot of the landing, drawing two fans of shuriken and launching them at Shisui. Meanwhile, Shisui kicked out, unleashing the kunai at Itachi. He saw the shurikens and jumped onto the ceiling, letting the flurry of stars soar past and embed themselves into the wooden wall. Then he released the chakra grip and landed smoothly on the floor.

Meanwhile, Itachi had been caught in the shoulder. The kunai was buried deep in his flesh. Wincing, he jerked the kunai out of his shoulder. Itachi stumbled back, tripped, and fell to the ground on his butt.

"Damn it," Itachi panted. He lifted the blood drenched kunai and pointed it at Shisui. Shisui blurred in and out, the world capsizing. Itachi cursed again. His fingers scrabbled at his first-aid pouch. Shisui walked forward with the authority of a victorious ninja. Itachi crawled backwards, blood-replenishing pills in his hand. He popped the pills into his mouth, the effects instantaneous.

"I underestimated you, Itachi. I see that now," Shisui said arrogantly as he wiped the trail of blood by his lips with the heel of his hand. "I wasn't expecting much of a fight."

"Excuses. You were expecting it full and well," Itachi retorted, knowing that it would spark Shisui's anger. It did, because Shisui's cold but smirking mask contorted with fury. Then the angered face reverted to the calm mask. Shisui hitched forward, his longest kunai spinning in his hand.

Itachi ignored the throbbing agony in his shoulder and parried the kunai with his own. The blood reduced the friction between the blades and Shisui easily slid his kunai away, changed it to reverse handhold, then ripped the kunai forward. Itachi flashed through one-handed seals behind his thigh away from Shisui's view. Then he pressed his palm into the kunai, charging the kunai with his jutsu. Shisui's Sharingan read the chakra signature in the kunai._ What jutsu? Cloning? Exploding? _He dropped two steps backwards. Itachi followed, and Shisui lashed out, catching Itachi in the jaw.

Itachi spun backwards, and he flicked his kunai at Shisui as he did so. "Bakuhatsu Shuriken no Jutsu!"

Both shinobis leapt back and took cover behind pillars. Plans rushed through Itachi's mind, and his hands moved along with the best courses of action. "Kirigakure no jutsu (Hidden Mist Jutsu)."

Meanwhile, Shisui ran into one of the training rooms of the Uchiha Mansion. He hefted a spear with a large spearhead. He was ready. Then the air thickened suddenly and considerably into a heavy mist, and his vision was impaired. Shisui turned off his Sharingan and closed his eyes. Then he concentrated chakra to his ears to heighten his hearing senses.

Itachi closed his eyes. He tied two flash bomb to two kunais. He heard a shuffle to the right, then threw one kunai. The attached flash bomb went off three feet from the shuffle. Shisui turned around, hearing the flash. His eyes opened instinctively, and he ran towards the sudden burst of light. Itachi listened for Shisui's footsteps, then threw his second kunai a foot to the right of Shisui. Then he rushed from his hiding place just as the flash bomb went off.

Shisui heard the whisper to the right, and turned around, finding himself eyelevel to the flash bomb. Even though he shut his eyes immediately, the flash still burned his retinas temporarily. Itachi's fist connected with his stomach, the Itachi flipped around for a roundhouse kick. He dipped under Shisui's block and dealt a right hook. Shisui stumbled back, then Itachi attacked with full speed, hacking, kneeing, then he ended with a backhand. Shisui was pummelled through a wall, then the next, then the following.

Itachi stepped away from Shisui, his right shoulder throbbing even harder.

Shisui pushed a wooden plank off his shoulder, then disappeared into smoke. Itachi spun around. Behind him, unhurt other than the first five taijutsu attacks Itachi had gave him before he managed to get away, was Shisui holding his hands in the Tiger handseal. "Katon! Gokakyuu no Jutsu!"

"Suiton Suigadan (Water Release: Water Fang Bullet)!" A shout from the left sounded.

Shisui spun around and released his Grand Fireball in that direction. Itachi let the fireball pass by him as his own jutsu kicked into action. A circle of crushing water spikes formed out of the thick mist around Shisui and surged into the shinobi. Shisui flashed through handseals and caught the water spikes in their tracks just in time. "Housenka no Jutsu!"

Then, he drew out a fan of kunai and released it at Itachi, attaching an exploding tag to each one of them. Itachi jumped over three, then caught the last one and threw it back at Shisui. He then whispered, "Mizu Bunshin no jutsu."

The tags exploded, clearing the mist just as Shisui had wanted to, and Itachi came into sight, twenty metres away. Shisui turned his Sharingan back on and smirked. "Mizu bunshin."

Shisui spun around, dipping to the ground, then gave a mule kick to Itachi's jaw. He waited till Itachi sailed up into the air, then followed, slamming his elbow into Itachi's gut. He pretending to spin left, then went over to the right and heel kicked Itachi. The ANBU captain blocked Shisui's punch as he fell from the sky and rocketed downwards. Shisui opened his fist and pulled Itachi's hand away, then used his other hand to punch Itachi in the gut once more. Just as they reached the ground, Shisui twisted again for a heel kick. "Lion combo!"

Meanwhile, Itachi jerked in the air as he sailed downwards at the oncoming ground. A trail of blood escaped from his mouth as Shisui gutted him. He flashed through handseals as Shisui flipped over for the heel kick and shouted "Lion Combo", and then he himself shouted "Air pressure!"

Itachi's left wrist snapped as it connected with the ground, but both palms had already passed chakra into the hard earth, creating a pillow of air beneath the dirt. Itachi slammed into the bloated ground, while Shisui jumped off his back. He coughed up blood and rose shakily._ If I hadn't done that last technique, I would be dead. But he should have some muscle damage too, with that long chain of taijutsu. _Itachi wiped off the blood.

Shisui rose from the ground shakily, the muscles in his legs trembling weakly. He spat his own wad of blood into the ground._ Damn it, Itachi._ Shisui hefted his heavy hands._ I'm too tired, I only have one last jutsu in me. But Itachi is probably the same. That bastard. I underestimated him. _"Katon! Karyuu Endan! (Fire Dragon Blast)"

Shisui inhaled deeply, then released it, the hot air turning into a real firewall, bearing down on Itachi.

Shisui smirked as Itachi was enveloped in the firewall, burning to crisp ash and bone. He inhaled the smell of burning flesh with passion. The fight was over.

Suddenly, the burning figure crawled out of the fire and smiled at Shisui, then disappeared into hot steam. Shisui gaped in shock._ That was the Mizu Bunshin I didn't finish off! _

"Too late, Shisui!" Itachi shouted. "Katon! Haisekisho (Ash Product Burning)!"

Superheated ash streamed out of Itachi's mouth, and like a huge hand, it wrapped around Shisui and burnt him. Shisui screamed in agony over and over again. Itachi concentrated on the crisp body as the ash hung in the air, continuing its slow barbeque of the tokubetsu jounin. _That's the real Shisui. _

Shisui fell to the ground, all his exposed skin and clothes had peeled off, and his orange hair had been burnt too. He screamed in anguish. "Itachi! I hate you!"

Cold night air touched his raw flesh, and Shisui thrashed on the floor, writhing, which brought even more pain, and it flowed out of his eyes in dark blood. The Uchiha cackled and shierked. Itachi stepped back. "Itachi! Itachi! I'll kill you! Kill you! I hate you! Kill!"

Itachi fell to his knees and said softly, "I thought… we were best friends."

Not hearing Itachi, Shisui continued to screech wildly, tearing at his face. His plan had failed! Kill! His power… "Kill him! Kazuya! Someone, kill Itachi!"

Itachi looked on sadly and continued, "Maybe, it was just me. I was the stupid one, wasn't it… I…!"

Itachi's eyes suddenly felt tortured, something was ripping it apart. Itachi yelled out, gripping his face. Sasuke had awoken, and ran up to his older brother, limping unsteadily. Sasuke shouted his name. Itachi responded to the call by looking around, then his world tipped over and he fainted, his newly gained Mangekyou Sharingan fading to onyx before eyelids covered them.

Sasuke half-ran half-limped up to Itachi, then someone appeared behind him and hit his neck. Sasuke crumpled to the floor. Kazuya looked on coldly at the sight. Where was Shisui-sama? _That screaming mess on the floor_. Kazuya looked contemptously on. Shisui-sama deserved it after all he had done to him. Then there was Uchiha Itachi. But that would come later. He squatted beside the boy he had just put out and checked for the pulse. There and strong. He looked around. Seemed like no one in Konoha had noticed that their best clan was wiped out yet. He pulled out a red flare from his pack and lit it with a snap of his fingers. The fireworks in the sky would alert the other ninjas.

Running up to his master, Kazuya hoisted Shisui over his shoulder then lifted a one-handed Ram seal, and the duo disappeared.

Kakashi and his team arrived at the scene. As the rest of his team members checked the Uchiha district, Kakashi sniffed the air and narrowed his eyes. _I had been sure that someone was there when we came. _

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shisui roused slowly, as if in a dream. He could feel cool paste pressing against his raw flesh, held down by bandages that covered his enture body. Some parts had been healed by medical jutsus, but they seemed half-hearted, as if someone wanted him down but not dead for the moment. Long, thin acupuncture needles lined his body at different points to speed the healing process.

"I've already alerted the Akatsuki of your success, Shisui-sama. You murdered the entire Uchiha clan, you passed the test."

Shisui looked at the seven year-old, who was bathed in tints of red, like the rest of the surroundings. "Did you kill Itachi and Sasuke?"

"Yes," Kazuya replied coldly. "Your vision could be like this permenantly, Shisui-sama."

"You switched topics quite fast, Kazuya."

"I'll do it again then," Kazuya said with a hard edge in his voice. "Four years ago you picked me up from the orphanage, saving my life. Now, I rescued you from capture and in effect, execution. I've wiped the slate clean, haven't I? I don't need to be your tool anymore, Shisui-sama."

Shisui narrowed his eyes. "You're betraying me. You didn't really kill Itachi, did you, Kazuya?"

"No, not when he's in that pathetic state," Kazuya replied. "I'll kill him with my own hands." Kazuya grip tightened on Shisui neck. "I hate you, and I'll kill you now if you hadn't made me to who I am now. Besides, the Akatsuki may come after me, since you'd become such a prominent member.

"Itachi's the reason why you made me like this, isn't it?"

Shisui recovered quickly and smirked, "Yes. You're avenging yourself. I thought I trained you to feel nothing."

Kazuya let go of Shisui's neck and turned around. "I suffered under your hands for the past four years. All creatures have emotion, even if its just a little. I learnt how to hate or how to wipe them out, and I think that's enough."

With that, the boy left the room, swinging a pack over his shoulders as he went._ Shisui-sama, you can be angry at me now and later, and maybe you'll kill me one day, but leaving you now, I won't regret it._

_Uchiha Itachi, you're next._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wait. You didn't find Uchiha Shisui's body?"

"There was ash on the ground, but our men analysed it. Chakra-produced. No trace of anything. Incineration, explosion, whatever, sir. Evidence points to either Itachi or Uchiha Shisui. Itachi could've gotten this injured from fighting all the Uchihas. What's more, he could've left his brother alive. But Shisui killed all, while Itachi protected his brother. Both got badly injured and Shisui fled." The voice faltered. "If I can give my own opinion, sir, I'd like to believe that Itachi didn't do it."

"So do I. When I arrived on scene, I saw two people leaving, one helping the other, who is probably Shisui. It could be kidnap as some sort of leverage, or it could be an accomplice. More odds on Uchiha Shisui." Itachi identified this voice as Kakashi's. He decided that this was the moment to show that he was awake.

"Kakashi-sempai, Kotetsu-san," Itachi said, surprised at his weak voice.

Kotetsu, a new ANBU member with black spiky hair and covered his nose and cheeks with a strip of cloth, stopped talking immediately and greeted him even though he was five years Itachi's senior since he had joined ANBU two years after him. Itachi grinned guiltily at Kakashi's sly look.

"As you heard," Kakashi prompted.

"There was an attempt on my brother's life and mine at my maternal grandparent's house. The killed everyone, and I killed all of the assasins, who were Uchihas, then escaped. I already suspected something like this would happen, but never knew it would so soon."

"Is it related to the Uchiha rebellion that they were planning?" Kakashi questioned.

"Yes, my father was half-hearted on this, so they wanted to overthrow him. Which is why they… killed him," Itachi finished sadly.

Kakashi prompted the boy with a nod.

"When I arrived at the Uchiha district, all the Uchihas were already dead. I led Sasuke to our house."

"Why?" Kotetsu asked.

"I felt a living presence there, so I went. I found my father dead there, and Shisui. I confronted him and we fought, ending with me using Haisekisho on him, explaining the ash on the ground. I fainted, so I don't know if there was an accomplice with him."

"I'm sorry, Itachi. One last question from me," Kotetsu said. "Do you have any idea why Shisui would massacre his own clan?"

"He…" Itachi faltered. A memory flashed past him.

_But Shisui countered, "This is the point, Itachi. Listen. These Uchihas don't measure their capacity at all. It's because of their lack that they're so useless, so weak. They won't be able to measure the capacity of others, because their so blind. You understand don't you?"_

_"Yeah, I do," Itachi said, thinking back to the night before. Shisui was probably talking about how the Uchiha men thought that they were so great that they could purify the world. Once again, Shisui hit the mark. Itachi smiled. Then he saw that Shisui was drawing something on the dirt with the kunai._

_It started out as a Level Three Sharingan, then the commas thickened and lengthed, connecting with the end of the pupil, before it broke past the pupil in long, thin spikes. Shisui drew it masterfully, as if he had been designing it for a long time, his eyes holding admiration for it, dark ambition behind those pupils. Itachi recoiled as the black eyes glowed red._

_"What's that?" Itachi asked, gesturing at the sketch._

_"I won't be tied down, Itachi. I'll exceed my capacity," Shisui said, his lips curving into a nasty grin. "This will be the mark that I'll dominate one day, it'll be the mark that represents me and my ideals, it'll be the mark that shows that I've exceeded my capacity."_

_"Thanks a lot, Shisui, I'll be going now."_

Itachi reeled backwards._ Oh my god, I knew, why didn't I suspect it?_ "He wanted to test his own power."

Once Kotetsu left the room, Kakashi folded his arms and stared hard at Itachi. "You're going after him, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I have to."

"No, you don't have to. You want to. I won't stop you. I don't always agree with revenge, but I won't stop you. Just be careful. I'm sure I saw a second party leave with Shisui. Also, I found a bruise at the back of Sasuke's neck that show's that he was put out, unless Shisui put him out earlier. No, right? So, be careful. And the way you are…" Kakashi let his voice trail as he took out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise and sat on the sofa.

Itachi looked down and realised that most of him was covered in bandages, but the numerous healers who had worked on him had reduced them to just small cuts or bruises, so he was almost okay, though his right shoulder was throbbing dully. Itachi drank the vaious concoctions on the table. The aches and pains everywhere subsided almost immediately. Itachi leapt from the bed and went to the toilet to change into his own clothes. Tying his weapons pouch and hefting his katana, Itachi turned to Kakashi. "Thanks, Kakashi."

Apparently ingrossed in the copy he had read for a thousand times, Kakashi ignored Itachi pointedly.

Sighing, Itachi opened the window and jumped out.

Kakashi sighed too and looked at the bed beside Itachi's._ Poor Sasuke. La la la la la… Oh shit, what am I doing?_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kazuya felt the subject before he saw him, which wasn't a very big span of time. Itachi's overwhelming presence wafted into his own, then they collided, dropping to the floor like bird pudding.

Itachi groaned and got up. He rubbed his head and said, "Sorr-!"

Itachi leant away from the roundhouse kick, then grabbed the ankle and twisted it. Kazuya followed through the movement and flipped through the air. Instead of slamming into the ground, he stopped himself with both hands, geared up, and lashed out with both feet, catching Itachi squarely in the jaw.

Kazuya did not wait for the clone to disappear. Instead, he turned around and activated both of his advanced bloodlimits at the same time. Itachi's Sharingan eyes widened at the exact same eyes glaring back at him ferociously, then widened even more as he realised that he could not copy the electricity that the boy had activated in his hands. "What the-!"

Kazuya read Itachi's movements and synchronised his movements along with it and grabbed Itachi's wrist. "Flash Charge!"

Itachi screamed as high voltage electricity rammed through him, exactly like two lightning bolts hitting him at the same time, just for a longer moment. Then when the mysterious boy's jutsu ended, he said, "Clones don't die. Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Kazuya leapt a safe distance away the moment the Itachi clone spoke. Itachi hopped off a tree branch to the ground opposite him. Kazuya glared coldly at Itachi. "You made the clone speak so that I could get away. What are you playing at, Uchiha Itachi? I'm not one of your puppets that you can voodoo on!"

"I don't get what you're saying, kid, but I did that cos' I don't want to kill you," Itachi replied casually, thinking that the boy had mistaken him for another person. "That jutsu you used would have killed a normal man. And it's an advanced bloodlimit. So is the Sharingan. Who are you?"

"Aikawa Kazuya. Don't lie, Uchiha Itachi, I know you know me. You're the one who put me into hell and forced me to survive it!" Kazuya accused. He breathed deeply. His emotion control training was losing it on one man alone. Then he said in a smooth voice, "You gave me to Shisui, didn't you. You inspired him to do what he did to me."

"Shisui? I don't know you, Kazuya," Itachi said, his eyes narrowing at the revelation of events. "Are you stalling time for him?"

"No. I killed him," Kazuya lied. "And now I'll kill you."

"Wait, listen to me, I don't know you. I've never seen you," Itachi said, relieved that Shisui was dead. But then there was this… boy, who was younger than Sasuke, who wanted to kill him. Itachi crouched down, ready to defend himself.

Kazuya studied Itachi carefully. No part of him told him that Itachi was telling the truth or lying, but all the actions Itachi had done was genuine. He didn't seem to know him._ Nevertheless,_ Kazuya thought to himself._ Shisui-sa… Shisui told me that people don't give all of themselves unless they're at the end. Even if Uchiha Itachi isn't lying, he has something to do with it. Shisui told me he inspired him to take me in and make me his tool. I'll kill him._ Kazuya decided coldly._ Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu._

Itachi was thrown off his feet when the kid suddenly exploded. He flipped onto a tree trunk and stared hard below. A smoke bomb exploded below and consumed the area. Itachi stared hard into the leaf carpeted ground. No movement at all. The kid was a professional. _Unless he's behind! _

Itachi swung around, unsheathing his katana quickly. Kazuya ran up the tree branch, wielding two long kunais. He parried Itachi's upward thrust, then sliced Itachi's master arm with his other kunai. Itachi ignored the pain and pushed Kazuya's kunai off his sword, and using his katana, he forced Kazuya down the edge of the branch. Kazuya caught the blade of Itachi's katana using his two-blade parry, then swung a kick upwards. Itachi leant away from the foot and used all his strength to free his blade, breaking the two kunais from Kazuya's grasp in the process. Itachi then kneed the boy in the chest, forcing the breath out of him. Kazuya fell onto the branch.

Itachi sliced the remaining branch out of the main body, and Kazuya went down with it. Itachi observed as the boy calmly drew out a kunai, secured a wire around the ring, then threw the kunai upwards at another branch. The kunai imbedded into branch, and Kazuya swung himself forward, landing on a trunk. With a swift jerk, the kunai returned to the boy's hands. _Shinobi's hands. _Itachi decided solemnly. His only course of action would be to kill the boy, or capture him for interrogation, since he had some connections with Shisui. Maybe some counselling for the insanity too.

Itachi flashed through some handseals which the younger shinobi seemed to recognise. "Katon ! Housenka no Jutsu!"

The first small fireball drove into the tree where Kazuya had been standing, then it landed in front of where Kazuya would step into, no matter where he went. Finally, Itachi leapt after him, and they clashed swords. Itachi, the stronger and better swordsman of the two, easily overpowered Kazuya and forced the boy into the ground. "Surrender now, kid."

Kazuya ignored Itachi's request and slid his sword away. Surprised, Itachi did not stop the sword from its downward path into the boy's chest._ Suicide? _Then Itachi realised by the smirk on the boy's face. "Electric Prison no Jutsu."

The boy erupted into electricity in the form of a human, then reached upwards and pulled Itachi into it's deadly embrace, shocking and burning all of his senses. Kazuya landed from nowhere and inspected his prize. It was a replacement. Instinctively, Kazuya raised a hand and blocked Itachi's roundhouse, but even with his defense, the force of Itachi's strike sent the boy reeling back six feet. "What happened to Shisui? What's your connections to him?"

He cracked, chuckling like a maniac.

_It isn't working at all. It would be a lie to say that I can defeat this man alone. Five years my senior, he has a higher chakra level, and is much stronger than I. Shisui-sa… Shisui lied. He couldn't defeat Uchiha Itachi. Not in his current level. I was too naïve to think that I could, even though I'm better than Shisui._

Four years of brutal training, mental and physical torture, finally broke him when he saw the person who had brought it all on him. And the fact that he, even with all that cruelty that he had never deserved, could not beat this person, snapped him like a twig that easily. He couldn't take it. "I didn't kill you then, because I wanted to destroy you with my own hands."

"You were the one who Kakashi saw," Itachi realised.

Kazuya nodded in reply._ Even if it kills me, I'll at least take you down._ "Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Paralysis no Jutsu)!"

"Jutsu Sho! (Technique: Neutralize)!" Itachi yelled back. "Under order of Konoha ANBU, you're under arrest, Aikawa Kazuya."

Kazuya shimmered and appeared in front of Itachi, holding a large ball of electricity in his left hand, he thrust his hand forward. Itachi evaded the attack and slanted sideways. He then proceeded to push Kazuya's armed hand away, then swiftly calf kicked the boy. As the boy fell forwards, he spun around and back kicked (mule/spin-side kicked) him fully in the chest. As Kazuya soar through the air horizontally, he leapt after him, and with another swift twist of his body, he ended with an axe kick aimed at the younger shinobi's gut.

Kazuya felt the pain as he smashed into the ground, but he ignored it, and crawled up unsteadily. Putting his weight behind his strike, he elbowed Itachi in the gut, then threw a hook towards Itachi's face. Itachi effortlessly blocked the elbow strike, then caught Kazuya's fist, and twisted it. As anticipated, the boy spun with the twist, and Itachi reverse roundhouse kicked the boy low, middle, and high like a true taijutsu user.

Itachi lowered his raised leg. It was over. Suddenly the shinobi had lost the will to fight at full force. Then the shinobi grabbed the peeling bark of the tree he had slammed into and pulled himself up, blood dripping from his mouth all the while. Kazuya fell to his knees again, then willed himself to his feet, and charged forward. He flicked out a kunai. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

As three clones flickered out beside him, he reached Itachi and struck. As Itachi took out the clones one by one, not without earning several deep gashes and stabs, he couldn't help but pity the shinobi, he was a lost soul, but he was as young as Sasuke._ Which is why the ANBU rarely assign missions to ninjas where personal feelings can be compromised. _Taking advantage of Itachi's sudden release of defense, Kazuya stuck the kunai into Itachi's blocking forearm, drew it away, the haystackered the older shinobi. The thirteen year old flew backwards, stopped, then dipped downwards and threw an uppercut into Kazuya's jaw.

The boy went out like a light.

Itachi sighed and flipped the ninja onto his stomach, then tied the boy's wrists together, and attaching a finger linkboard so that he wouldn't be able to move his fingers for any jutsu. Hoisting the boy over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, Itachi shimmered out of existence, a trail of wind in his wake.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The large empty room with stone lined walls was lit by a single bulb dangling from the ceiling. The temperature was set cool, not enough to freeze the subject, but enough to cause some discomfort. A single metal door with no windows other than a narrow one-way window into the room was the only entrance. When Kazuya woke up, his eyes were stung by the light he stared into. After a few seconds, his eyes registered to the piercing yet dim setting

Not speaking, he decided to evaluate his situation. His body was bare of clothing, even his feet, other than the boxer shorts that covered his crotch. The injuries that he had sustained from his battle with te Uchiha were untreated. His hands were tied to the back of a thin, wooden chair, linkboards cuffing his fingerss apart. His ankles were bound to the chair by heavy chains. The cold was already making him shiver, and apprehension made him tremble ever so slightly.

A far cry from Uchiha Itachi's position, fully clothed and sitting on his cushioned swivel chair.

The psychological torture was already underway, and Kazuya wondered what would be next. More mental, or more physical?

"You are registered as Aikawa Kazuya from Kasuikan Orphanage, adopted by the deceased Uchiha Shisui. After that, no record was taken of you for four years. Is this true?"

Kazuya nodded his head.

"Well," Itachi said coldly. "This is the ANBU headquarters, specifically the interrogation facility, and your interrogator, is me, Uchiha Itachi, for until the time I get the information I require, which is everything about Uchiha Shisui that you know, and whether you pledge allegiance to Konoha."

Kazuya said nothing, and just waited.

So Itachi continued. "This is my license to interrogate you with whatever means necessary." He pulled out a stamped document. "So before we begin, is there anything you would like to tell me?

Kazuya stared blankly ahead. Then his lips curved into a defiant smile. "Uchiha Shisui is alive."

Itachi took the information in with surprise, then he turned up towards the ceiling. "Ibiki, you heard that. Send four squads out to search for Uchiha Shisui. To be captured dead or alive."

Kazuya looked up at the survelliance camera. So the world was watching him make his stand against the bastard. Whatever. He had suffered more than Itachi would ever be able to do to him.

**_Traitor. The sole tool that I bred and you turned against me. I agree that the slate is clean now, but I'll give you one reason to kill me the next time we meet. After this, I'll seek you again. Remember that. Mangekyou Sharingan!_**

He screamed as his back flared in excruciating agony. He thrashed about, and the chair he was sitting on toppled over and he went down with it. In the second that he was falling, he entered a world of negative colours and a red moon.

**_Tsukiyomi. For the next forty-eight hours, you will be forced to listen to me and be under my control. After that, it will be a time before we meet again._**

**_Uchiha Itachi had nothing to do with what I did. Nothing at all. I only told you that on a whim. So that in future if I failed to kill him and you deserted me, at least you would eliminate him for me. But after all of this, I've decided that that is not what I want. I want to destroy Itachi with my own hands, and kill you myself. So you can tell me whatever you want. You can befriend him and his brother to protect them against me. You can believe that you will be able to protect them._**

**_But it will not work. I've joined the Akatsuki. They have introduced me to power that I never thought would exist for me._**

**_And the information you have on me… I always controlled it, because I knew that you might betray me one day. In future though, you will be willing be with me, I will find the way._**

**_Now with the information constantly in your mind that you shouldn't kill Uchiha Itachi, let's relive a few things, shall we?_**

**_Forty-seven hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-nine seconds to go._**

_I almost killed the man who tried and is trying to save me. The key to my freedom of Shisui._

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Itachi untied Kazuya's hands and stared at his back. He had not been the one to undress the boy, so he had not known the curse on his back.

The exact same Mangekyou Sharingan sketch that Shisui had drawn into the dirt the last time, with the comma tails extended to the far corners of the boy's back. It now glowed a burning amber. But the boy was already out like a light after screaming for a whole five minutes.

Uchiha Itachi was a prodigy, and he could put two and two easier than most people. _This boy wasn't under control of himself. If what he said was true, he'd been trained by Shisui that I now know. And this mark on his back… Shisui said that this symbol would represent him… Kazuya is the product of his ambition?_

After a long moment, Itachi looked directly at the camera. "Ibiki, I'm clearing the kid of all charges. He'll be under my custody for the next three years without telling him. Any suspicious signs and I'll turn him over to you immediately, got that?"

Ibiki answered over the speakers. "Affirmative." He trusted the ANBU captain's judgement, if any of it was sane.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Kazuya woke up, he was staring at a white washed ceiling, lying in a comfortable bed with soft, thick covers draped over him. He was bandaged and healed at some places. He saw Itachi sitting across him. Obviously the Uchiha only knew basic healing jutsus. Then he remembered that he wasn't exactly on speaking terms with the Uchiha and sat up.

A cold, wet towel fell of his forehead. Kazuya felt his forehead. It was burning hot. He slapped the towel to his head. "I-Itachi-san…"

Itachi tried a small small as he studied the boy. The blank eyes were softer, the fists were unclenched, less hostile. For once the boy looked confused… and ashamed, uncertain. But willing. "Whatever happened in the past, it never happened. I've registered you as an Academy student, in my brother's class. He's a year older than you, eight, but he'll be fine. So that Shisui will have a hard time looking for you, your name's now Kazuhiko Rukawa." Itachi softened up his business tone. "Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah," Rukawa replied. "Itachi-san… I'm still sorry for-"

Itachi nodded Rukawa's words away. "My name's Itachi for you. My brother's called Sasuke," he said as he gestured at his brother, who was at the doorway.

Rukawa nodded uncertainly. "Ni-ice… to meet you, Sasuke."

"Hi," Sasuke replied as he stepped into the room. His eyes were sunken and hollow. Itachi walked up and smiled at Sasuke. "The kid'll be living with us for the next couple of years, so I'll be frank with you." And it'll be easier for Kazuya. "He was once Shisui's apprentice."

Sasuke stepped away from the bed in fear as memories came flooding back. Memories of dead people and lots of blood.

"But, he was used and once he found out about Shisui, he betrayed him at a great risk to himself. So treat him well."

Sasuke stared at the boy. This was a brother, someone he could turn to. He didn't know the boy, but he felt sorry for him, something he had never felt. And when Itachi left the room, Sasuke felt that he needed to be friends with the guy, because they were in the same hole. He didn't know it, but he was drawn to Rukawa because of circumstance.

Rukawa gazed fixedly at Itachi's brother who could was a potential… what did they call it? Friend. A brother. But if Itachi's brother decided that because he was Shisui's former apprentice… would he… Would a kid think of such things? _I'm a year younger than this guy, and I'm thinking of such things. But, we're different._

Without knowing why, Sasuke found himself hugging Rukawa in a brotherly manner. He somehow understood why his brother was not returning the hug, even though at the same time, he did not know. Sasuke smiled and closed his eyes, squeezing out tears that soon trickled down his face steadily as he grieved. For his mother, for his father, for his brother, and for this new younger brother.

Rukawa's blank eyes registered shock as he was suddenly pulled into Sasuke's embrace. _Someone… another one, has accepted me…?_ Tears did not come like Sasuke's, he had long been forced to forget how to cry but he imagined them to be there, falling like leaves during autumn.

_Shisui, this isn't because of what you said, but I'll befriend them, not because of what you want, but because I've become theirs. Friendship… is a wonderful feeling. I feel warmth in my heart for some reason. Because of this bond that hold people together. I'll… try it._

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Finally finished with the revamp of Chapter Two. I think I have to change Chapter Three too, and after that, I may not change anymore and totally concentrate on keeping the story running. It's quite amazing, really, seeing my original chapter change to this.

I like the fight scenes. Itachi and Shisui's fight isn't as good as five years later, because basically, one is thirteen, and another is eighteen but weaker than Itachi. I don't like superpowers who are powerful but don't improve, so I've written it in a way that I think is their current level.

Kazuya became Rukawa. He's a professional ninja too, but he's young, not even into puberty, so his power level will be down, and he gains advantage mainly through surprise and speed, which is why he gained the upperhand during the first part of the Itachi-Rukawa fight.

And, I'm bad with the emotional scenes and 'realization' thing, so it probably sounds bad.

Still, please review, because it's really appreciated. And thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter Three Mission Number 38

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I don't own Team Seven, but worst of all, I don't own Itachi. Chapter Three—Mission Number 38 

The years passed quickly. The ninja known as Kazuhiko Rukawa soon became good friends with Uchiha Sasuke, who was now at genin level. The two graduated into Team seven with Naruto and Sakura. That was one more than the normal group. This was how Umino Iruka explained it, "Since the number of you who passed was thiry seven, there had to be a team with four people. Why team seven? It was a random pick, and several senseis. Including the hokage, felt that we needed at least two top students to balance out the deadlast Naruto in the team."

The real reason, however, was because the board of new jounin agreed that the bond and teamwork between Rukawa and Sasuke was phenomenal, and the two of them executed moves which even Kakashi had not seen when Itachi and Kenji were activated. Also, Kakashi pointed out that Naruto had to be on the team because Rukawa and Sasuke did not seem to hate the blondie as much as the others. The Hokage felt that putting Sakura on the team would antagonize Sasuke and Naruto sadistically, and that the lovey-dovey kunoichi had to set her priorities straight.

So, Team seven waited patiently with increasing agitation for their new mentor. Sasuke was sitting, resting his chin on one hand as he talked to Rukawa, who was on the table. Sakura and Naruto were squabling with crap when a ninja walked in, sidestepping a duster that had fallen from the sky. Sasuke turned around and asked, "Why the heck is it you?"

Itachi ignored his brother, and picked up the eraser duster, a sinister expression on his face. "Ninja lesson one. Don't irritate your mentor, especially not with a duster. After all, I could order you to do ten missions a day."

As he spat the last word, Itachi's hand flew back, the duster nailing the wall three-quarters through. By this time, Naruto and Sakura's knees were jelly, their minds racing with excuses.

"Then again, I am your jounin instructor, Uchiha Itachi. Let's get on with the introductions. Your likes, your dislikes, dreams, and stuffs. You, Uzumaki, can start."

By this time, Naruto's eyes had fired up into a shiny cerulean blue. He popped onto the desk and proclaimed, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, expecially Miso ramen, and especially, especially ramen from Ichiraku Ramen, more so if its Miso ramen! I dislike waiting for my cup ramen to heat up. My dream is to become the hokage one day, and make everyone acknowledge me!"

Itachi leaned back, his face kept passive. _So that's how it is with you, Naruto? Hmmm… Haruno Sakura. A girl obsessed with my brother with a dislike for Naruto who has a crush on her. Shit. I really need to set her priorities straight._

Then it came to Rukawa, who leaned back almost nonchalantly. Sakura giggled a bit. "I am Kazuhiko Rukawa. I like, and I dislike. I have ambitions and dreams. Yeah. That's about it."

Itachi pointed at Sasuke, who said seriously, "I have few likes, plenty of dislikes, and I have an ambition to revive my clan…"

Same as I have. No surprises there.

"And to surpass my brother," Sasuke said to Itachi. Even with Naruto's dim witted brain and Sakura's muddled intelligence quantity, they saw immediately that even though they loved each other, their sensei would not be biased towards his younger brother. Suddenly, Itachi snickered evilly and answered Naruto's angry question, "This is gonna really freak you kids out. We'll be having a survival training program tomorrow. It's more of a test. The passing average each year is pretty damn low. Only three teams or less pass each year. Be at the tenth training field by tomorrow at five. And don't eat your breakfast. You might puke."

Itachi continued to cackle madly as he disappeared in a puff of devil red smoke, which he had dropped a haze ball to release it. It had its instant effects of creepiness.

Sasuke slammed his bowl once he had finished furiously wolfing down its contents. Frustrations had welled up inside once Itachi had stepped into the classroom. Now, he was merely a brother, not a ninja, who had gonce through the limits of anger management. He had the right to be angry.

So, he furiously shouted at his brother who coldly scrutinised him behind his bowl, "Dammit! How come you are our sensei? Aren't you suppose to take the role of an ANBU commander after that Yunami-Hayute solo mission?"

"No, ototo, if that's what that pig headed Anko has been trying to tell you. That was merely a mission to confirm that I was mature enough to handle the responsibility of becoming a jounin. I've been considering it for some time, and Konoha needs more jounin ninjas anyway. I can be reactivated anytime. Me being in your team was a total coincidence, really. Its just that Asuma wanted to undertake my three-woman team, pervert style."

Sasuke sweat dropped as he quickly washed his bowl and returned to his room in embaressment. Behind his door, Sasuke heard his brother shout after him, "And I'll know if you ate breakfast, prick head!"

The next morning, Sasuke woke to find his alarm clock lagging by fifteen minutes. Dashing into his brother's and Rukawa's room, he found that both were gone. _Dammit! Itachi's really serious about this survival test. Even Rukawa's worried for a bit!_ Changing out of his pyjamas, Sasuke grabbed his weapon's holster before running for Traonong Field Ten.

Team Seven met in front of a large granite stone piece. Naruto was awake and screaming about his fanatical desires, Sakura was half asleep, and Sasuke was awake and watching on high alert. Rukawa? He was sitting on one of the upright logs, twirling a kunai.

Thirty minutes later, Itachi walked onto the training ground. The moon was still a bright cresent hanging onto the sky, its coat of darkness forcing the rays of pink sunlight away. Itachi set the alarm clock in his hand for ten a.m., and said, "Morning. The rules are… no rules. All you have to get are these three bells and come at me with killing intent, by ten. If not… we'll get to that later. Sayonara, and good luck. With that, the bunshin/ messenger disappeared with a poof of smoke. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto turned to leave eagerly, but Rukawa called out for them to follow him into a hollow thirty metres away in a forest of dense shrub.

Naruto, as usual, was loud and surprising. "What the- "

Sasuke clamped his hand on the idiot's mouth, nodding at Rukawa. He did not know what was Rukawa's plan, but he trusted it fully. Obviously, getting the bells would be a pass. Maybe Rukawa wanted to knock the other two out so that both of them could get the bells without interference. Sakura's hands were two her heart, swooning over Sasuke's coolness. Sasuke hushed her, and she hushed in total hushable hushiness. Sasuke was her hush-hush husher now. She would hushily obey his hush.

Rukawa drew a rough map of the training field with the kunai he had toyed with earlier on. Marking the place of where they were, he drew breath and spoke, "There are three bells, so only three of us can pass. But, that is just a decoy for the real thing. Shut up, Naruto. You'll only lead Itachi sensei to us. Sakura, you can stop your girliness, we need those bells. The real objective is teamwork. As long as we fight in tandem _and_ get all the bells, we will pass. If my presumption was wrong, we would still have impressed sensei, gotten the bells, and I would willingly go through another year of boringness with Umino-san. This is the plan."

Itachi was searching the training field chuunin style, in circles slowly closing in on the group. Amazingly, they had evaded him. He had been sure that Uzumaki would have come after him immediately. Suddenly, a grand fireball rushed at him, and Itachi leapt away. So it was Sasuke? Suddenly, a wave of kunai was hurled at his unbalanced body, and Itachi was forced to twist away. Feeling a hand clasp onto his arm, Itachi swung back and punched the kage bunshin. Two other Narutos landed onto of him, covering him with a net weighed down by ball bearings. Itachi made a hand seal.

Rukawa dashed forward, hurling a kunai at the net, freeing the real Naruto where Itachi had replaced his team mate. Leaping back, he and Sasuke engaged Itachi in fast taijutsu combat in combinations that they had practiced almost every day. Kicking Sasuke away, Itachi evaded Rukawa's steal for the bells and retreated five back flips, attacking Sakura this time. Knowing that she would disappear into a log, Itachi turned to the right and hurled a shurken at her, and the bunshin faded away as the shuriken zipped through it. Itachi looked up and hurled three shurken at the descending girl. Turned away to fend of seven Narutos, before catching Sakura's collar with one hand before dissipating the last Naruto doppelganger into the real Naruto, who coughed a wad of blood as Itachi struck him in three places before Sasuke covered the boy with a Housenka Katon Jutsu.

"Pressure blast!" Itachi formed a couple of hand seals before doing away with the fire. To his surprise, kunai tied to explosive tags were hidden in the small fire balls! Before he could leap away, kage bunshins of Naruto and Rukawa pulled him down, chibi vs. giant style. The tags exploded, and Team Seven landed a safe distance away, the four of them posted at four different corners.

Sakura pulled out a kunai, panting heavily, sweat dripping down her chin even though the temperature was cool blue. This was the first time she had done any cool combos with anybody utilising so mayn moves! Her eyelids batted beads of sweat, and she lifted her hand to flick them away, lowering her armed hand. A mistake. In a flash, a blow was handed to her gut, before a hand chopped onto the back of her neck. The last thing she heard till she plummeted to the ground soundlessly was Itachi whispering, "Ninja lesson two. Never let your guard down."

Naruto looked desperately into the haze of thick smoke, hoping Itachi sensei wasn't dead yet. That scary sadist frightened him. Would he ever eat ramen after this? His stomach growled at the thought. His breakfast! He wished that he had hecked sensei's words away and eaten at least an apple. Hearing footsteps behind him, Naruto whirled around. No one was there. Turning back, Naruto saw the shadow of Itachi's face before he felt fingers jammed into his butt. Before he passed out from the pain as he flew into the air, he could still hear the jounin whispering, "Ninja lesson three. Konoha's most powerful taijutsu techinique to any male being: Thousand Years of Pain."

Sasuke was on high alert when Itachi suddenly came at him. Blocking his brother's kick, Itachi's defensive hand suddenly turned around and grabbed Sasuke's leg, before the other prodded a nerve to numb it. Surprised, Sasuke lifted his hands to block the oncoming blow when his brother's elbow jammed into his stomach, pain exploding in a white light before his eyes. Before his eye lids failed to lift anymore, Sasuke saw the disappointment in his brother's eyes. In shame, Sasuke knew that he would never forget that gaze. "Ninja lesson four. In the ninja world, you have two choices. Live free or die."

By the time Sasuke landed heavily on the ground, the smoke residue from the explosion had cleared. Tendrils of pink light barely poked through the blanket of darkness. Itachi turned to face the true opponent. In turn, Rukawa faced his sensei. Team seven had failed his plan. As the captain, he had failed to protect his team mates. It was odd. Rukawa never experienced being in a team before. Now, he was in his own territory. It was a solo mission. Take out the keeper and steal the targets. A large cloud blurred past, shading out the gap of pink light and plunging them into moonlit darkness.

Itachi could smell the strong scent of death again. From the books of his research, Itachi knew that Rukawa had two selves, schizophrenic. One was Aikawa Kazuya broken by Shisui, the other was Kazuhiko Rukawa that he had brought up. Now, he was dealing with Kazuya, bound mentally by Rukawa. A leaf blew past, and based purely on battle instinct, Itachi leapt away from it. True enough, Kazuya had pierced it with a senbon, and on the needle was a small explosion tag attached. Flipping out two long bladed kunai for each hand, Itachi blocked Kazuya's attack, before attacking with the other kunai, aiming for the boy's right shoulder. Kazuya twisted, his foot lashing out. Itachi jerked his kunai before jumping away, pulling a shuriken and hurling it at the kunai. Still in the air, the kunai was powered by the hit from the shuriken, which spun back at Itachi. Kazuya tore the oncoming kunai with his hand from the air, wincing as Itachi cut him with the shuriken. Then, Kazuya disappeared into a form of water. Itachi barely looked as he deflected a blow to his back, and he spun around, his left hand already positioned before his mouth. "Katon! Ryuuka no jutsu!"

The tight beam of fire left his mouth, the was captured by a sphere of water. The Mizu bunshin! The fire soon extinguished, and Itachi held his breath as the fire had used all of the oxygen. Kazuya stood before him, behind the revolving ball of water. His eyes did not gleam with life, his face expressionless. It was a genjutsu! But how to get out of it? Itachi closed his eyes, then opened them again. The Sharingan! The dojutsu soon dispersed the genjutsu. Kazuya took ten steps back, looking as if he was innocently stepping back. But Kazuya never left openings. Itachi, through his Sharingan, saw short needles and inch long flick out of his hand. What was he planning.

"Uchiha Itachi. My genjutsu does not extend to just my eyes." Suddenly, the boy had faded away, and around Itachi was eight coloumns of ten tiny needles embedded onto the ground. Then the needles faded away, and in its place was a glowing yellow line. Itachi was mesmerized by it, the streaks sliding back and forth. Suddenly, the streaks leapt at him, causing everything else to blank out. Itachi desperately evaded the oncoming flashes. _This is genjutsu! I need to sense his breath! His presence! But where? I can't keep this up for much longer. Concentrate! Expand your chakra area._

Itachi calmed down, and expanded his radius of chakra, blasting the streaks in a flurry of lit chakra, fire pulsating through the rings. Itachi woke, and saw himself stuck by a senbon in a core nerve. Rukawa was back, holding up three bells. Naruto and Sasuke were supporting Sakura. "We've passed, sensei."

Itachi drew breath as Sasuke pulled out the needle. "Fine, all four of you passed. Though it was all because of Rukawa. Without him, you would have gone your separate ways, seeing the lack of one bell as a hindrance instead of the key to this test. Naruto, you would have come out to me. Sakura, you would have been bedridden at the sight of my ototo. Sasuke, you of all people, should have realised the whole point of this test, instead you saw the other two as weights, instead of pawns on your chessboards. Only Rukawa managed to see the answer, and he managed to band the three of you together. It was a brilliant plan, but the three of you were out of action, and Rukawa had to cover up for you. If this was a real mission, Rukawa would have returned alone, and I would have received a letter telling me that my ototo had died in action… All in all, the plan was pretty well executed.Today's meeting is over."

Shamefacedly, Sasuke hung his head as his brother walked away. He hated the disappointment in Itachi's voice, and the controlled calm hurt him. It would have been better if Aniki had shouted angrily at him, and his remarks stung. Clenching his teeth, Sasuke raised his head, gathering his dignity. He would never let Itachi down, never again.

Itachi collected the brown folder Miura had left on his cluttered desk. He yawned. He wasn't much good at administration anyway. Undoing the twine, he slipped out the stack of papers and signed them. In two weeks, they had already done thirty-seven D-ranked missions and booked the old Cadet Corp training arenas eight times for nine hour intervals. Inking his pen, Itachi scrawled on the last sheet of paper.

"Team Seven has made remarkable progress under my tutorship. They are now confident in chakra molding, and have cleared the modules for walking on walls and water. Their stealth has improved significantly, even though Haruno's and Uzumaki's are still mediocre. Their teamwork has improved."

Chuckling, Itachi slid the stack of papers back into the folder, tied it, and dropped it into Miura's pigeon hole as he exited the office. Warm, pink sunlight was strewn across the stone cobbled street, baby blue mixing with tureens of fluffy clouds. Hawks flew above, in the sky, cawing with dignity and strength, their large wings needed to elevate their muscle-bound bodies. Though merely a flash to the common mortal, Itachi espied jounins and ANBU members dashing to various meeting places. Chuckling, Itachi walked back home, knowing that he would see two sweat drenched figures sparring on the Uchiha district.

Rukawa released the deadlock on Sasuke as he saw Itachi move in. The younger brother had been left like that for every spar over the past thirteen days, still unable to evade that certain attack.

Rukawa had agreed to perfect Sasuke's taijutsu, seeing that ninjutsu and genjutsu would kill him, by using the same kill-move on Sasuke until he knew how to counteract it. Of course, Rukawa did not use the same method of attack, but he used the same end move. So far, this was the third move, and it was one of the basic moves Rukawa had mastered during the early stages of his training. The more Rukawa sparred with Sasuke and Itachi, the more he realised how brutally insane Shisui was as a sensei, and the more he realised how efficient he was as a ninja tool.

Sasuke wiped the sweat on his face with his sleeve, his torso bruised and aching where Rukawa had gutted it. Thanking Rukawa, he turned to Itachi, asking, "Aniki, when are we getting real missions? Like escorting? Protection? Anything? So far the most exciting thing has been nabbing that fat cat, and that was only exciting because it scratched more whiskers into Naruto's face."

_Finally. Someone voices their opinions._ Heck, even he, Uchiha Itachi, was impatient with the missions of late. Finally. His smile twitching up a notch, he replied, "I'll ask the hokage tomorrow. Come in for dinner. I bought ramen."

"Man. Naruto's really growing off you, isn't he? I mean, we've been eating ramen for lunch ever since we started missions," Sasuke grumbled as he followed a chuckling Rukawa into their house.

As the smell of miso wafted throughout the room, the three ninjas were soon engaged in a conversation.

"Sakura needs to set her priorities straight. Every time I see her, she's bickering with Ino, smelling flowers, or brushing her hair. She's too woozed up with Sasuke. You should see the look on her face when you hush her, Sasuke. Once, I asked her what was wrong, and she dreamily told me how you became some hush-hush hushier which she would hushily obey to her hushiest potential. Oh man. Her eyes were heart-shaped."

"Aw, dam. Rukawa, that really stinks. Then again, she's getting better at our team strategies. I don't think she's self training at all. Her level is still the same where Itachi leaves us at."

"I'll take that into mind, Sasuke. What do you make of Naruto? Rukawa?"

Rukawa slurped in a noodle and replied, "His stealth is very low, and his actions are based on his feelings, not responsibility. Secondly, he pampers Sakura and hates Sasuke. Rivalry should only go so far for a team to function well. His chakra control is horrible, and I think it's got something to do with this seal I saw on his stomach. Naruto needs to learn the basics of being a ninja."

Sasuke nodded his head vigorously. "Naruto does drive me nuts. I agree with everything Rukawa said. Other than that, he is the hole for any mission that any enemy would take advantage of. As team mates, we should cover him. But it's not efficient."

Itachi sighed through his nose. Naruto was the biggest glitch in the team, and Sakura should have been dumped somewhere else. Luckily Rukawa and Sasuke made up for their lousiness. He then picked up his bowl and threw it into the waste bin, and headed straight for his room. Time to sleep.

Behind him, two boys shook their heads, before copying Itachi. Rukawa hopped into the bunk above Sasuke's and threw the blanket over his body, snuggling into his pillow. Sasuke drew the thick, heavy curtains across the window, before falling into his own cot.

The following day, Rukawa swung down from his bed to the floor, called up Sasuke, and they got ready for the day, before joining Itachi in a simple breakfast of packet soba noodles with canned unagi.

They met at the Hokage tower, Naruto and Sakura keen for different reasons. Sakura jumped at the sight of Sasuke, while Naruto jumped at the prospect of an exciting mission. Sasuke rolled his eyes. When would the two ever learn basic intelligence. Nevertheless, he silently stepped into the building, and into the Hokage's administrative office moments later.

The hokage was holding out a D-classified mission when Naruto had an outburst of rage, demanding a more challenging task. The hokage then patiently explained, as if reciting, a long speech of genin-ness. After the long and boring talk, which lasted twenty minutes, Itachi stepped out of his sleep and said, "Hokage-sama, I believe that my team is ready for a C-ranked mission. They have completed their tasks and trainings effeciently, more than other teams, including Maito Gai. I request for a C-classified."

The hokage gave another twenty minute-speech and gave him a scroll. "You will escort our target to Wave country, and will protect him until he finishs building his bridge."

As if on cue, a drunkard burst through the door, the genin manning the door bouncing off his meaty chest. A gourd of cheap wine swung from his neck, and his teeth were different shades of grays and yellows. Even Itachi wrinkled his nose. That was their client?

"Hokage-sama, I've been waiting for the flies to crawl out of my hair. Dammit. I need to return to my work!"

The patient puff from Sarutobi's algum pipe disappeared into the old man's face. He waved his hand dramitically at Team Seven and replied, "This is your protection. Genin leveled ninjas competent to protect you from the gangsters you mentioned in your petition. Their instructor, Uchiha Itachi, is more than capable to defend you."

The old man took a swig off his gourd and retorted, "Well, I hope their as competent as you say, Hokage. After all, the bandits I face could be challenging for these brats. My, even their teacher looks as if you picked him off the street! Isn't there a higher ranking team?"

Uchiha Itachi stepped in coldly, "I would punch you, but then, that's not my job. You called for a C-ranked mission, which is dealt with by genins. It's just a bunch of thugs, isn't it?"

The man took a swig and waved Itachi away, "Whatever kid. Just do your job."

Itachi's eyes narrowed at the old man. _You're hiding something._

"Saskue, Rukawa, Naruto, and Sakura. Gather your things. We leave in ten."

Without a word, the four disappeared. Sarutobi nodded in approval. Even Uzumaki was taking his proffesion a little more seriously. The genius Uchiha Itachi could do wonders.

Sakura screamed as Itachi was suddenly ripped to shreds by two chains. They had only been talking! Sasuke spun around, and acknoledged the nod his brother had given him. Leaping into the air after the two ninjas, he hurled two shuriken at them. Raising their metal hands as a defense, Sasuke crashed his leg onto them before kicking one head, and decking the other. Disappearing into water globs, Sasuke landed on the ground, to see Rukawa spearing one with a short sword, in the thigh. The other charged at Tazuna, who was defended quickly by Sakura. Naruto was hurled into a tree, as he was blocking the ninja's way. Sakura's eyes hardened as the masked ninja threw his long chain at her.

Sasuke threw a kunai into the hook at the end of the chain, and it spun the chain into a chain, half dragging the ninja into it. Instinctively, the ninja disodged his arm from his weapon, and flipped into Sasuke, striking him across the face. Flying into the air, Sasuke smirked when his bunshin exploded, throwing the masked shinobi into the tree. In a flash, a thin wire had bound the two attackers to the tree, Itachi holding the string.

Taking a look at the deep gash in Naruto's hand, Itachi nodded to Rukawa, who sheathed the knife. "Rukawa. Interrogate these people for me. Sakura, Tazuna-san. Come. Naruto is hurt."

A slightly flustered Tazuna was accompanied by Sakura, and the foursome went to another part of the clearing, Sakura helping to bandage Naruto's hand. Naruto winced each time her soft hands tightened around his wrist. Itachi shook his head, "Sakura. The Demon Brothers dipped their claws into poison. You should have let the blood flow. Undo the wrap and extract the poison. Kunoichis are the most sucessful of medic nins. Without such basic knowledge of medicine, how can the team be effective?"

Reddening, Sakura gingerly tore the bandage away, then unhooked a clawed senbon from her belt. Naruto winced more now that a metal stick was worming in his wound. Tazuna watched in deep fascination as a dark green liquid oozed out with maroon blood.

"Sasuke, let me handle this interrogation. Please," Rukawa added after Sasuke was about to protest. Nodding, Sasuke stepped back. Rukawa stood infront of the Brothers, his face calm. When he spoke, it was passive, and yet dangerous. Was this the Kazuya Itachi had warned him about?

"Demon Brothers, of the Hidden Mist. Exiles ever since you became followers of Momochi Zabuzza. Your skills are rudimentary. There has been no rain for the past two months. The puddle on the dry ground had tints of unnatural gray; it is a cloudless afternoon. What is your purpose? Who hired you?"

They only sniggered and sneered behind their masks. Then the one with spikier hair spoke. "What do you think you're gonna do, kid? Piss in front of us?"

Kazuya remianed motionless. "What is your purpose? Who hired you?"

The other Brother sneered, "You're only a boy? What rank? Genin?"

"What is your purpose? Who hired you?"

But they only sniggered. Kazuya tried another tack, "I am only Genin, but defeated two chuunin who have been said to be master assasins. I could see no such skill in our brief contact. What is your purpose? Who hired you?"

Their swaggering expressions turned cold, "Don't talk like that to us, boy? We'll kill you."

"Bound by wires and injured. How pratical. What is your purpose? Who hired you?"

The second Demon Brother looked at Sasuke, then back at Rukawa, his eyes laughing. "Who is that? Your brother? A close friend? Heh. What's your name? Rukawa, isn't it? Well, we're gonna take that kid and torture him inches from death, till he hates you with every fibre he has left. Then, we're gonna make you come, powerless, and beat you in front of him. His hate will seep away after a few weeks, and soon his screams for you will be in desperation. Then we'll kill you in front of him, when he's finally mental. How's that?"

Sasuke stepped forward, but that brother was suddenly tied to another tree. Rukawa's kunai was out, and he was whacking the ninja using the ring at the end, drawing blood and gasps of pain. Finally, Rukawa ripped the mask off, crushing it beneath his boot. Tearing out anything covering the man's right hand, Rukawa slammed it into the tree, making splinters pierce the guys hand. Rukawa used the ring to snap the excess leaking out, using the hand as the fulcrum. The Brother screamed in pain. Pushing each bloody finger back into the tree with his own fingers, Rukawa flipped the kunai over and began piercing the tiny gaps between their fingers with inhumane speed, never batting an eyelid. The Brother looked on, horrified, and he pleaded, "Stop it! I'll say anything! Stop it!"

Rukawa tore the worthless shinobi out of his bounds, dug the kunai into the Brother's elbow, and dislodged the arm, from elbow and from shoulder. "Say it!"

Sasuke felt the hairs on his arm stiffen as the pinned Demon Brother cackled, the muscles in his mouth stretching audibly as if scars scabbed his face. His voice was cold, almost maniacal. "You're gonna regret this, Leaf nin. You may have got through us easily, but you'll never get past Zabuzza or his gang. That's for sure. Who hired Zabuzza? A powerful magnate even a dope like you should know. Gatou of the Gatou Corporation. Trade merchant. He hires thousands of thugs. There's no way you'll beat all of them."

Rukawa finally sliced off the man's muscled hand, rendering him to a screaming blob of flesh. The Demon Brother watched as Rukawa grind his severed hand beneath his boot. "You should have realised that the information you gave was quite educational, dimwit. And you should have known I would never have spared your life. As for Zabuzza, he's nothing compared to my powers. As for you, bye."

Sasuke had known that Rukawa majored in quick interrogation, and had perfected all forms of persuasion. He himself had researched on such things. Sasuke had thought that interrogation was performed through the heart. He had been on the verge of breaking the mist nin's neck when they had insulted Itachi. But Rukawa had remained calm, in a deadly sort of way. Were ninjas beasts? Rukawa certainly was one. A cunning beast. Itachi's after word proved Sasuke wrong.

Surveying the damage now slumped on the floor, Itachi nodded to Rukawa, a sure sign of approvement. He said, "Very well done. In this aqquaintance, Sasuke has improved the most. Sakura has performed averagely. Rukawa has executed his mission as efficient as usual. Naruto. I did not expect you to freeze up like that."

Naruto screwed up his face. How was he supposed to know what to do? He whined, "Iruka sensei only trains us the basics. You're supposed to be the one who actually teaches us the real thing. What have you done?"

Itachi folded his arms and replied, "Now you're pushing the blame to me? I've already run you people through a couple of combos that will last you long enough against a jounin or a chuunin. As for real life experiences, that's where the training programmes and these missions come in. You're usually slacking and stuff, which is why even Sakura, who is a total bimbo, has improved more than you, the future hokage. Get a life."

Naruto crossed his arms and looked away. "No."

Itachi spun around. "Shit. Nevermind him. Let's continue. Naruto, follow, take the rear point and keep the look out. To jog your memory, it's the Red Dog defense."

"What a jerk," Sakura shook her head at Naruto. No wonder the others hated him. He was nothing but a-

"Coward," Sasuke said, turning his back on Naruto. Possibly the most hurtful thing for Naruto was to see Rukawa turn away too. Clenching his fist, Naruto punched it to the ground. The wound on his back hand reopened and bled, soaking the bandages. Swearing silently to himself, he took his oath. _By this pain, I swear I'll never back away again!_

Tazuna glanced back at the bleeding kid, his eyes filled with pity. He could never understand the ninjas. Much less their mentor, Uchiha Itachi.

In the trees, scent hidden by the gore left by the Demon Brothers, chakra concealed by Naruto's excessive chakra residue radiation, a kunoichi looked hungrily at Rukawa, silent and unmoving. She loved the way the boy had dealt with the prissy brothers Zabuzza had sent. Sure, she liked Zabuzza, but she didn't have to respect his ass like Haku did. The other boy, Naruto, was the perfect bait. She hid in the trees until the moon rose, then left her place. Her brain had already formulated the plan.

Meanwhile, before the moon had come out from the clouds, Tazuna and his bodyguards were sitting on the boat, driven by Balchi. The motor was off and he used paddles as they crossed the bridge. Rukawa listened as Itachi got some truth out of Zabuzza. In reality, his senses were on the alert. When he had done the finger stab thing, he had felt this sudden surge of passion, it had been female, and Sakura did not have the death factor. It had been some one else. It had to be a proffesional, seeing that he could not detect the intruder.

Finally, the boat rode out of the thick mist into a sunny village devoid of human life. Rukawa found this so funny, that he almost laughed. As they docked, Itachi motioned for Rukawa to stay put. "Protect Balchi. After what Tazuna said, he's in great danger. Come to Tazuna's later. You should be able to find us."

So Rukawa sat silently on the boat as Balchi coasted to the south dock without event. The sea smelt stale, as if the mist had blocked off life, just as the clean but abandoned-looking village was. Rukawa stepped off onto the dock, thanked Balchi, then set off in pursuit of his team. Lingering any longer could result in fights.

While Rukawa was protecting Balchi, Naruto had returned to his usual idiot self.

Seeing that Itachi had those shifty eyes, Sasuke moved to take point. But Naruto apparently thought idiotically. And proved himself a genius, nearly killing a whiteshoe rabbit, a creature that turns white in the winter. Itachi's soldier sense was on high time. Obviously a kawarimi. A glint of sunlight caught his eye. No where his level then. All the same, he decided to play dumb. "Duck!"

His following move wasn't. All of them had ducked. Cutting though the air, Itachi recognised the blade as Zabuzza's. Catching the spinning handle, Itachi used the momentum to swing it around and hurl it back at Zabuzza. The blade cut through five trees before it embedded deep into the tree. Zabazza, half naked wearing guerilla style pants with half his head wrapped in bandagges, the demon looked down at the small inklings. His eyes narrowed as he recognzed the fifth individual. He was rated more stars than Hatake Kakashi, who had nearly killed him in one mission. Uchiha Itachi. One of the two Uchihas who had survived the tragic clan. Best to keep the cards in. But then the older Uchiha had his hands shoved into his pockets. "Momochi Zabuzza."

He had lost his whole arsenal of cards. Zabuzza shivered as a hint of the Sharingan bored into his eyes when Itachi had flashed it at him for a second. In that second, Zabuzza finally saw why his Bingo book had described the dangerous shinobi in front of him withsuch detail. The three commas whirled as the locked into his movements. What plans he had made earlier on were immediately disrupted. A wave of fear passed through him. He felt a block of cold touch the nape of his neck. Haku's signal or warning. But how could he escape with Itachi locked in on him? So, he said, "So, you know me. And I know you. During the time of the seven Swordsmen, we kept this bingo book, in that book was you. I would have been comissioned to assasinate you. Well, it's just time for me to fufill that unspoken order, Uchiha Itachi. Your Sharingan is pretty impressive, but does not match up with my sword. Plus, I have more powers that you can possibly imagine. Hand Tazuna over, or your subordinates will die."

Itachi merely shoved his hands even deeper into his pockets. Zabuzza was relying on speech. "Please don't threaten me with your baseless wiles, Zabuzza-san. They irk me…"

Itachi leapt ten feet into the air, level with Zabuzza, who had hurled himself forward in anger. His magnificent sword was in front of him, aimed at burrowing Itachi's unprotected chest. Itachi powered up his chakra blade and added, "And so does your saw."

Itachi landed on the ground perfectly, ignoring the fact that he had cut through a Mizu Bunshin, and wasted a large store of chakra. Zabuzza was standing on the water, his hands forming the ram seal. He noted the weighted air and the overwhelming mist.

Sasuke froze as he felt the two jounins dare each other with their killing intent. Beside him, Naruto and Sakura started to shake. Tazuna was clasped in their swatiska formation. _What would Rukawa do? _

It just would not come to him. All the trainings he had done earlier on now seemed useless.

"Sasuke. I never let my comrades die in front of me," Itachi said. Sasuke relaxed, only to feel a sinister presence cut off his connection to Tazuna.

"Is that so? How amusing." Zabuzza swung his blade, cutting the bodies of Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. Before he could reach Tazuna, though, Zabuzza;s blade cracked. "What the-!"

Unarmed, Zabuzza saw the three genins close in on him. He defeated them in six swipes. Sasuke ducked and stabbed Zabuzza in the stomach and shoulder, before being pulverized into a tree. Naruto dished out a kick to Zabuzza's back before landing thirty feet away, unconcious and the side of his bleeding. Sakura fared the worst, grazing Zabuzza in the cheek with a kunai before Zabuzza kicked her point blank and knocked her over, pining her to a tree with five shuriken.

Itachi gazed coldly as Zabuzza turned to face him. Then they engaged in combat. Zabuzza had left his broken sword on the ground, and they slowly inched onto the river and beyond. Both of them were tiring, and Itachi finally managed to do a roundhouse kick to the kunai embedded in Zabuzza's torso. Zabuzza nearly passed out from the pain as the dagger ripped through the flesh and through his back, mercifully missing organs and bones. Landing on the water, face down, Zabuzza did a few seals. _Ram. Snake. Rat. Tiger. Snake. Ox._

Zabuzza jumped up, and threw two curved daggers, which caught the wind and spun, travelling through the air with lots of friction. Merely a distraction. Itachi leapt back and ducked. A swift sound was heard, and Itachi had no choice but to leap up, the daggers lodging into his right arm. He screamed as the muscles on his left calf tore loose. Zabuzza's blade came to a halt in front of the man himself. The two pieces was bound by ropes of heavy water, Itachi's blood rolling off it into the water. The crimson tendrils dyeing the water at Zabuzza's feet red. Zabuzza released his spell, and swung his blade. The broken attachment flew off, to the ground far away. Advancing with the damaged sword in his fist, Zabuzza inches slowly towards Itachi, with arrogance and pain, blood leaking from the hole in his stomach. He had only fourteen minutes now before he would bleed to death. Itachi, most of his body submerged in the water now that his left leg was paralysed, smirked before his head was severed.

Boom.

The Itachi bunshin exploded, sending Zabuzza into a waterfall and under it, pumelling the shinobi's water with gallons of rushing water. The shinobi's body soon floated up, face down, metres away from the bloom of the the waterfall. Pulling out the two kunai in his arm, Itachi grimaced when he saw the poison on it. He had done a bunshin when he had heard the rush of Zabuzza's blade. The poison on the kunais was one that would force him to lose concentration. Zabuzza would then be able to capture him and torture him for whatever purpose. If the man lived for so long. By now, the injured Team Seven had raced across the water to Itachi.

Sasuke clutched his stomach and said, "This piece of shit is useless."

Itachi nodded and drew a kunai. One blow and Zabuzza would be a bloated corpse by tomorrow.

Five needles zipped into Zabuzza's vital points. The chakra that had kept the unconcious Zabuzza up had vanished, so the intruder hoisted the large man up before he could sink.

"Please forgive my intrusion, konoha nins. I have been waiting for the opportunity to kill this man for months, and you helped me make that opening. I thank you for that. Now, I would like to dispose of his body. Please step back. I wish to summon the animals that will savage his body."

Itachi stepped back, and the rest of Team Seven followed. Standard procedure. Itachi watched as the short ninja did his seals. The shinobi was young, probably fifteen. But already a hunter-nin. Impressive. The handseals he made were complex. Itachi read the last few seals before he started forward. Those were not seals of disposal! He could almost see the acomplice smirk behind the mask before they disappeared. Behind him, Sasuke frowned in anger, and said, "I see now. Those were similar to the Mizumaru seals of disposal, but were not. Instead, that was Mizumaru seals of multiple escape to be perfomed by and individual but to teleport a majority."

Itachi knew all this already, but he knew Sasuke was doing this for the benefit of Naruto and Sakura. "Theres not much more we can do. Sasuke, take the point, Naruto, keep the lookout at the back. Sakura, cover Tazuna at the front. Zabuzza and his lackey are not likely to return, so I'll do a scout around the area, just in case they're still here."

"That's not likely," Sasuke grumbled. "You just want to slack."

Rukawa walked along the boardwalk, not liking his position at all. Perhaps he was just paranoid, but the choppy sea waves and the hollowed sound of his footsteps could muffle an assasin's coming. The perfect coverage that even he would have taken advantage of. Rukawa was careful to place his left hand over his weapons pouch when the crack of thunder came. This wasn't possible. Balchi had told him that it had rained heavily just before they came. The sun came and cleared the puddles up pretty soon. Even so, a thunderstorm so abrupt was not to be.

When he heard footsteps peppering the boardwalk in quick staccatos, Rukawa dropped step. The only thing was, the attack came from below. Even though the masked kunoichi had missed her target, she still managed to grip the boards and twist around hard, sending her spiked boots into the boy.

Rukawa leapt, but a fraction too late. One poisoned claw nicked his ankle, its agent immediately working to slow the boy down. Rukawa hardly managed to block the kunoichi's oncoming blow, and had to roll with the fierce kick to his head.

Upon instinct as he was thrown into the waves, Rukawa took out a senbon and nicked at his wound, letting the blood flow freely. The poison was not able to go any further, so Rukawa had to make do with a clumsy footing. The kunoichi smirked as they engaged in a high speed battle. She definitely had enviable agility, but Rukawa was faster. He ducked under her kick and slammed into her chest, breaking at least a rib and tearing three breast tendons. She coughed a globule of blood.

Rukawa grinned. She was done. Heatedly, she flailed at Rukawa. The classic mistake of the Mist nins. Rukawa easily grabbed her forearm and twisted it sharply so that it dislocated. As she wound up for a kick, Rukawa merely slapped it away and stabbed her in the side, before whirling in for the kill.

That was when the glint of thin metal caught his eye. He reversed course almost immediately. The five senbons flew out of range, two making contact with the kunoichi. Another masked shinobi had appeared in front of the kunoichi. Rukawa started forward again, snarling. Another worthless being.

Then a jag of lightning caught the boards, halting Rukawa as the yellow fire danced into view. Most people would have been blinded, but not one who controlled the Rai elements. As soon as the yellow flash had disappeared into flames, Rukawa leapt over it at the prepared ninjas. The shinobi danced with him, senbon and kunai clashing in red sparks. No matter how inventive and speedy he was, Rukawa could hardly stab the boy dead on, only managing scrapes and cuts on his opponent. This was a fresh one. So far, only Itachi and Shisui had managed to avoid his greatest attacks in such a proffesional manner.

Thick plunges of rainwater pummelled on Rukawa, and he coud only guess that the other ninja was controlling the weather with such an odd bloodlimit. This certainly was not her greatest potential.

Rukawa calmed down, smoothing into his battle with the other shinobi. He heard his heartbeat flash with each major attack, and Rukawa soon learned to adjust his body to defense mode during these heavy beats, and attacked swiftly when the onslaught faltered momentarily. Eventually, he had two solid hits on the other shinobi. The latter had manage one stab and a deep gash. Unfortunately for Rukawa, he had not poisoned his weapons, unlike his opponent, who had coated his needles with a slowing agent. His mind became cloudy and the colours brightened. Within one minute he would lose conciousness.

The masked shinobi started forward unsteadily, blood erupting from his shoulder and side. Blood trickled evenly from other gashes, and his head ached from where his target had clubbed him twice with the butt of his ringed kunai. He could see the konoha genin falter, clutching his right arm and dropping to his knees. He saw shock there. Apparently the ninja was either on his first battle, or he had never been in such a hitch after all his battles.

Haku unhooked a bundle of strong twine before he felt darkness creeping into the edges of his vision. Take the konoha nin captive and he was liable to faint right there, leading to the capture of both her and he by either the konoha if he woke up earlier, or if his comrades came. He, Haku, would have no purpose to Zabuzza if that happened. The second option was to flee with her right then, but let the konoha nin escape capture and interrogation.

Haku looked longingly at Rukawa, then took up the kunoichi beside him and did a complicated series of hand seals. Rukawa watched blearily as they escaped. Forcing his will to overcome the numbness and pain, Rukawa stood and limped his way for Tazuna's stilt house.

He was less than halfway through the cool woods when he saw the faint outline of Itachi, before his vision seared white and he collapsed into Itachi's vest. Sinking to the ground, Rukawa longed to faint from the poison, and he finally did.

"I've never seen you so beaten since Itachi found you," Sasuke stated to Rukawa. Sakura had gone with Tsunami to pick wild herbs as a salve for the team's various wounds. Naruto nodded seriously and piped up, "Zabuzza was pretty good, though his weaseled friend was slightly better. Now there are three of them, and the weasly friend is obviously much, much better than the demon Zabuzza. What do we do if we meet up with them again?"

Rukawa half agreed, most of his mind on the shinobi he had fought with. The shinobi had been fifteen years old, travelled with a whiteshoe rabbit from the faint scent, and had a bloodlimit, no doubt. His chakra level was pretty high. Somewhere near Itachi's level. In other words, his too. The kunoichi was twenty seven, from her height the same as one of the two women in the seven swordsmen of the Mists organization. The classic reaper sword was off her back, though Rukawa was sure that it was Yuuki Takakuta, because of her bloodlimit. That Yuuki Takakuta he had fought with had been a clone, he was sure.

But why hadn't the real user capture him when her fellow shinobi couldn't? Unless she was somewhere else, even if not far off. Suddenly it all clicked into place. Yuuki Takakuta was also known as the basic medic of the Seven Swordsmen. She had to have been tending Zabuzza. Seeing that her clone was down, she had sent the masked shinobi to cover up. _But then, she could have just created another clone. So that was the real her… Oh heck. They covered it too well. I don't know what to think._

Even if he had let himself been taken, what of it? He would either be tortured or killed, either way a dead end. It was unlikely that he would learn anything of infiltration-classified importance for they were professionals. So, Rukawa dismissed the guilt of going freely. Why would he have guilt in the first place, Rukawa asked himself. Then he remembered, the fight would have been useless in Shisui's eyes. No wonder he felt half as guilty as he was. _Shit. _He cursed silently. _I'm not Shisui's dog anymore, so don't be such an idot, Rukawa. _He turned to Sasuke and punched his shoulder playfully. "Baka. It's my first official mission. Of course this would be your first time seeing me beaten badly. I'm only genin, remember?"

Sasuke was confused, but only for a fraction of a second. He immediately retorted. "Dobe. Shut it."

Rukawa smirked.

Sakura returned with Tsunami, both of them had a cloth pouch strapped to their waists, filled with herbs and leaves. They stopped behind the wooden cabin and put their bags into the floor. Tsunami and Sakura went into the cabin and they collected pots and water, Sakura bringing a grind stone. Returning to their herbs, both of them pulled out the plants and dumped them into the stone bowls, before using the grinders to beat the leaves to pulp. Tsunami fanned the slow fire where two pots were placed atop the makeshift stove. The familiar whistle of boiling water ensued after fifteen minutes, and Sakura scraped the thick green paste into the pots. At sundown, they returned home with small jars in their hands, filled with medical herbary.

Sakura had noted that the woman beside her was nervous, but she saw how Tsunami eyed her occasionally with swift distaste. She learnt later why the bridge builder's daughter disliked ninjas during dinner.

Rukawa and Itachi sat together, both bandaged. Sasuke and Naruto were opposite them, plasters stuck to their bruises and cuts. Tazuna was sitting at the top of the table. Tsunami and Sakura returned, plates of vegetable and fish lining the table. Tazuna picked up his chopsticks and wolfed a leaf down with the rice in his bowl. Respectfully, Team Seven and the others joined in. Tazuna took a piece of broiled grouper. "It's not much compared with your meals in Konoha, but this is the best we can give. Hope you can appreciate it for all the scrawny brats you are."

"Of course, Tazuna-san," Rukawa smirked as he poured black sauce onto his plain rice. Tazuna huffed an continued with his meal.

Naruto and Sasuke were dead tired. Even though it was late afternoon, Itachi had dragged both of them out after speaking to Rukawa into the forest. He made them run twenty laps around the village and push ups and pull ups till they dropped. When they cooled down by hurling shuriken at a moving log, Itachi made them hop speedily up and down the tallest trees using chakra a hundred times. When they had neared their limit, Itachi successfully exhausted their reserves by making them dodge rocks that he threw at them. That explained the numerous plasters covering over their bodies like wallpaper.

Still, Naruto was laughing and joking about. Itachi noted that Inari, who had screamed at them earlier, looked irritated. _You've got it wrong… dobe. You're nothing compared to Naruto. But I'll give you that you are our charge, a small boy who has been pampered._

Seeing Naruto's content and bloated face, Inari was angered. He was angered that people like Naruto should protect them, they who had experienced no pain to protect those so desolate! At the thought of his father, he started to cry, tears of shame, of lonliness, and anger. And the infuriating worm had the gall to note his tears, to ask, "What's up?"

Tears now poured as if squeezed from a sponge. He stood up and screamed, "Why do you try so hard. No matter how hard you train, you'll never be strong enough to beat Gatou! No matter how nicely you cream your danged words, no matter how much effort you put in, it's all futile! The weak can never beat the strong!"

Sasuke looked away, annoyed. _Stupid brat. Naruto has become stronger with Aniki. He has found companions by trying hard. No matter how I deny it on the outside, he won me over. He has Aniki, Rukawa, Sakura, Iruka, Sarutobi, and me. So shut up brat. You can't even stand up again?_

Inari gulped in his tears and continued, ranting, "The very sight of you annoys me! You don't even know this country, and yet you like showing off so damn much!

"And you don't understand me! I'm not like you, someone who has never experienced hardship, one who's always laughing like a jackass!"

Now Sasuke wanted to deck the guy. _You hit a wrong nerve, dobe._

Naruto flinched, in an irate sort of way. He kept his voice controlled but dangerous. "So you think that you can play lead actor in the tragic drama. And cry like a baby? Grow up!

"It's bastards like you who should just cry all day, you stupid cry baby!"

With that, Naruto got from his table and left the room.

"Naruto, you've gone too far!" Sasuke put a hand on hers and shook his head.

Itachi thought for a moment. "So, Tazuna san. What happened?"

Sakura nodded and piped up. "Yes, Tazuna-san, please tell us. Has it to do with that photograph?"

Tazuna nodded gravely. Tsunami left the room, and he told the life story of Wave country's fallen hero.

Itachi nodded and left the house. He found Inari sitting at the edge of the corridor, hugging his knees and staring into the dark sea. Itachi took a seat beside the little boy.

"Don't take Naruto's words to hard. He isn't that good with words, that guy. Tazuna-san has told us about your father. Naruto was like you. He grew up without a father.

"Actually, he has never seen his parents, and has never had a single friend. His past was much more tragic than yours, believe me. But I've never seen him in pain, suffering, or giving up. I've never seen him shed a tear. He has never grumbled about what's he's gone through.

"He's fought for the acceptance of the people around him, to acknoledge his very existence. For this dream, he would die…

"He has stopped crying. So, he knows what it means to be strong, just like your father. Naruto understands you more than all of us. So, he couldn't just leave you alone."

With that, Itachi got up and went to his room. Sasuke was leaning on the wall beside the door in the room. "That was kind of you, Aniki."

"I actually wanted to punch him. But Naruto wouldn't want that."

Sakura lifted the cooled pots from the counter, pondering what Naruto had said. The boy had not come back, possibly training. She went to their room. Itachi and Rukawa was waiting in their futons. Sakura blushed as they took off their shirts to reveal their well-built bodies. Looking at Itachi and realising how weird it would be for her to touch an older man, she hid her red face behind the her pink hair and gave him an open pot. Sasuke sighed and went over, helping his brother undress the bandages.

Sakura timidly unwrapped Rukawa's shoulder. The bandage stretched from his right shoulder to his left waist so that it would hold, and wrapped around his stomach to cover his injured side. She timidly took the white cloth off, saying sorry hurriedly each time her fingers brushed his skin.

I know I should be faithful to Sasuke, but his skin is so smooth, but his muscles are so hard, his body is so lean! Hell yeah, Sakura, brush his abs a bit more!

_Shut up, Sakura, that's perverse! _Sakura cursed to Inner Sakura. Finally, both shinobis had their wounds to tingle in the cold wind. Sakura regained composure after a while, and picked up her black jar, her hand taking out a bit of black salve. Cold night air shifted across the room. Rukawa's hand lashed out, gripping her arm like a vice. "The salve has been poisoned with Hroubus root."

Itachi sniffed the jar and nodded. He looked at Sakura casually, his head tilted to one side. The green eyed girl looked at the jar in shock. "But we did not put that plant in! I don't even know what Hroubus is! Tsunami couldn't have, the seal is still intact!"

Rukawa put a hand firmly on her shoulder and smiled, calming her down. "Never mind. Maybe it got caught in the herbs you were picking. Hroubus wilts easily for its stalk is weak. It gets uprooted easily."

Sakura nodded, relieved, and went out to dispose of the pots. Rukawa and Itachi started to redress their wound with new bandages. Sasuke helped to wind the long gauze around Rukawa's body. He tied the bandage firmly then said. "Hroubus root is hard to pull from the ground."

"Indeed. Zabuzza couldn't have, neither could been Yuuki Takakuta. Both of them can't move. It's that masked hunter-nin," Rukawa stated. Sasuke questioned, "But it could be another ninja."

Itachi shook his head and answered, "No. The ninja would have captured Rukawa. There are only three of them."

Sasuke laid on his futon. "Three to worry about. Mandekuso."

The week rolled by smoothly. In two days, Rukawa joined in on their training, sparring with Itachi. Sasuke and Sakura swam laps in the ocean and ran for miles, honing their ninjutsu and taijutsu against each other. Naruto was far behind, scaling the trees and perfecting his kunai hurling on falling leaves. The team took turns guarding Tazuna. On Friday, Sakura followed Tazuna to buy food. She was shocked to see many shops closed and desolated, neon lights punctured and boards torn from the walls. The little shops that were open sold almost nothing, leaking pots or broken pans. There was only one small restaurant, selling cold soup, the meat almost raw and most of it fatty, adorned with a rotten leaf. They stepped into the market place. The shelves were nearly empty, the food scarce. There were four tied leaves, their stalks blackened. A tiny cabbage was rammed in a corner with a few soft tomatoes. Eight packets of two salted fish line one whole shelf, spaced out, as if the owner was trying to brighten the outlook on his near empty shop. Tazuna picked out three packets and one vegetable.

Sakura was inspecting a few beans when she felt a shrivelled hand carres her exposed thigh. _Perv alert!_

She whirled around and decked the old man, tossing out three rotting teeth from his garbled mouth. He flew many feet into the air and sailed the row of shophouses. Sakura heard a yell and a splash far, far away. Tazuna looked back from his grocery. _Hmm. Thought I heard something._

Sakura told Tazuna about the pervert, then learnt that the adult had tried to cut loose her purse. "Well, that was a bad miss."

A tug came to her skirt. _Another perverse pick pocket? _Angrily, she whirled around to see a dirty thin child looking hopefully at her, both hands cupped out. Smiling, Sakura took the only two energy bars from her sling bag and placed them in the two tiny hands. She smiled as the child's face lit up in delight before disappearing.

Tazuna tugged her to keep walking. Sakura saw the tiny children sitting on mats, empty containers in front of them. Men shuffled along the streets, signs hung over their backs saying "Will do any paying job". Women wore skimpy clothes, old make up covering their scrawny faces, hoping that some man with money would have enough testosterone for their aneroxic bodies.

"Has Gatou affected Wave Country so much?"

Tazuna led her to the construction site, nodding gravely. "(Like duh, if not I wouldn't be building a bridge.) Yes. Wave country has become his dumping site for excess goods. Whatever we profit from he takes, and he controls our supplies carefully so that we will not revolt. Currently, our spies say that his plan is to become the daiymo of this country, and fill it with his own samurai and shinobis who will do his every bidding. This way, he earns money and gains protection."

Sakura tugged at her bag. "What's the whole point?"

"If he creates an army big and powerful enough, he'll be able to expand his trade to the other countries and gain favour. He hopes to gain control of the entire community. As you know, our post-nin community keeps itself from the outside world."

"Yes, I've never seen the outside world, but it's supposed to be very dangerous. My history sensei said that the greatest hokages have place powerful seals so that none may infiltrate our land."

"Indeed. But it is said that Gatou has seen the outside world, and he thinks it extremely profitable. If he gains control of the post-ninja community, he'll be able to expand his trade and open up our land as world's largest theme park."

"He's a sadistic bastard!" Sakura exclaimed, horrified. "Gatou has to be stopped."

Gatou nodded and hefted a length of timber. "(Like duh, if not I wouldn't be building a bridge.) Of course."

On the eigth day, Itachi had regained full strength. "Finally. Zabuzza and his hunchies should be okay about now. We should guard Tazuna-san as a team. Sayonara, Tsunami san, Inari-kun."

"Woohoo!" Naruto shouted, leaping into the air. "Finally a good day's mission work!"

"Aniki, we'll be getting a higher pay for this, right?"

"Yea. We've been up against S-ranked criminals, and a big sadistic magnate we have to assasinate now. But mostly because we're putting up with Naruto."

Author's Note: A lot of brief differences in character compared to the canon. Naruto isn't such a loud person because I don't think that ninjas, even Naruto, would act that way.

Team Seven is a lot more powerful because they are, one, ninjas, and two, coached by Itachi. I think that the Team Seven in the canon had next to zero progress if it hadn't been for the fact that Sasuke and Naruto self trained, and that they had mission experience. But Itachi trained them as a team, so their progress was pretty quick.

Haku, Zabuzza, and the Mist kunoichi might not have seemed as powerful, but there are several reasons. One of them is that Team Seven limits them, since genins are still skilled even if they have the lowest rank, and secondly… my fight scenes isn't great.


	5. Chapter Four Candle Capping Crusade

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I don't own Team Seven, but worst of all, I don't own Itachi.

Chapter Four—Candle Capping Crusade

Sakura gasped. Naruto gagged. Sasuke was shocked. Rukawa was shocked. Itachi was shocked. The non-ninja oldie reacted first. He rushed to Gilchi, but the man was already dead, his eyes wrenched in pain and shock, lifeless. His legs had been swiped neatly from under him, and he had been cleaved of his heart. The other construction workers were strewn across the bridge, blood splattered everywhere.

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "Rukawa, take point! Naruto behind him! Sasuke at the rear! Sakura behind Tazuna!"

Immediately, the were in a line around Tazuna, before spreading out. A severed head landed at Rukawa's feet, and kunai embedded in it. An exploding note was attached to it.

Grimacing, Rukawa plucked the kunai out of the head and threw it back at the mist. He then kicked the head into the ocean. And explosion came above the gathering cloud of mist. The mist surrounded the bridge and thinned out for a bit. Three figures stood in front of them, their heads held high with all the authority they had.

Itachi stepped forward, his hands shoved into his pockets, fingering a spherical object. "So, Zabuzza, you're back. What makes you think you stand a chance against us? What's more, your surbodinates got their asses kicked by only one of us."

"Keep a lid on it, Uchiha, it's payback time. Yuuki. You take your kid, I'll take the big guy. Haku, keep an eye on the other midgets."

"Hai," Haku said behind his mask.

Itachi took another step forward. "So, that's what your name is. Haku. Why keep that mask on since we know your name. Baka. Your master just ripped you."

At Zabuzza's signal, Haku ripped his hunter nin mask and side-threw it at Itachi. Itachi ducked the mask and caught the three senbons in its shadow. "Sakura, protect Tazuna."

With that, the three battles started. Naruto and Sasuke double-teamed Haku, attacking faster with each step, chakra flowing through their bodies. But Haku was more experienced, and he decked both of them out of his way. "Ninpou! Flying water needles no jutsu!"

Itachi dodged Zabuzza's cleaver and struck a pressure point, falling the man for a second. It was a point blank shot as Itachi raised his right hand and blew a Ryuuka shot into the shinobi.Taking two quick steps back, Itachi eluded Zabuzza's swing and appeared behind the man. Fast and fluid, Zabuzza switched hands and drove his sword back at the konoha nin.

Rukawa fought Yuuki on the railings of the bridge. Yuuki had a slim sword which was thin enough to slip through his ribs. Taking out a kunai, Rukawa leaned away from the opposing metal and jabbed the woman's wrist, before wrenching the dagger back so that the hook looped around her middle finger. Taking a shallow cut to his arm, Rukawa broke the finger promptly. He then dislodged the sword from it's wielder and hurled it at the sky, two explosive notes attached to it.

Sakura gripped her kunai harder as the water clone approached her with deadly calm. Haku walked towards her saying, "Give me the old man and I'll spare your life."

Producing a kage bunshin, Sakura let her clone fight Haku's with futile consequences. He had dispatched it like a bug.

"Sasuke, what jutsu is this?" Naruto shouted frantically as the icy blocks surrounded them quickly.

Sasuke shook his head and grabbed hold of Naruto's wide collar before hurling him out of the cage. The blond haired kid skidded the width of the bridge and swallowed a retort. Sasuke drew an imaginary circle in the air. His fingers left a brief hole in the frosty air before Sasuke slammed it with two palms. Naruto nodded. _I get it Sasuke. Sandwich. Should have realised. But I don't like the feeling of Sasuke being alone in that prison. We'll have to end this fast. _Naruto then put two fingers to his eyes.

Sasuke nodded gravely and activated his bloodlimit. Even though his brother said that using the Sharingan was a lousy short cut, but Haku was way stronger than them. If Haku was surprised, he didn't show it, but he stepped into one icy plate. He had to end this now and fast. Zabuzza was no match for the older Uchiha. He drew five senbon and hurled them…

Itachi was worried. That Haku kid was using a dangerous ninjutsu. His fears heightened as Sakura fought with a Mizu bunshin. Zabuzza's large movements were getting irritating. "Hey, Zabuzza, don't you fight with strategies?"

"Duh."

Itachi shook his head and kicked Zabuzza aside. The man flew through the air over the bridge. Itachi saw the two wires wrap around the railing and started forward. He had expected the shinobi to attack from the front, but Zabuzza had swung to the other side, his cleaver aimed at Itachi's back.

"You gotta say shit to this, Uchiha," Zabuzza murmured triumphantly as his blade punctured Itachi's back and went through his front. Itachi coughed blood. One of his lungs had collapsed and blood flowed freely.

Too freely.

The bunshin exploded to naught, throwing Zabuzza off his feet. The real Itachi hurlted through the air and caught Zabuzza's stomach in with the heel of his boot, before smacking the shinobi into the floor. The man sank a foot into the concrete, cracks spreading across the floor. Itachi stood over the broken body, breathing lightly. He didn't care that the body had dissolved into water which collected in the dented concrete.

"Mizu jutsu! Dragon blast no jutsu!" The water roared from the puddle in a spinning mass at Itachi. _This jutsu is damn fast! _Itachi thought as the water slammed into him, sending pain shooting through his body. He had underestimated the purpose of the water.

The two men collected themselves. Zabuzza was panting from the burns of the explosion. He had been lucky to escape that full house kick from the Uchiha. From the corner of his eye, he saw Yuuki slowly exhaust the boy with her bloodlimit. He smirked. Classic.

Yuuki smiled as Rukawa was forced to dodge the hail stones that came at him. He was getting weary of the game. Time to amuse Yuuki even more. He drew a kunai and started destroying the large ice cubes, inching towards the kunoichi. Yuuki was startled but smiled. No one had ever stepped within two metres of her with this technique. There was no reason he should.

Her voice was a low bass. "Your eyes are beautiful, shinobi. I want them."

"Sadist!" With a burst of speed, Rukawa smirked as he reached Yuuki in a flash, he dug the kunai into her shoulder before leaping up over her, the blade still in her shoulder. The dagger tore her muscles when he landed behind her. Tearing the kunai out, Rukawa stabbed her.

"Now you're a pest, idiot," Yuuki growled, and she retreated ten metres away from Rukawa, hand seals underway. "There's no way you're getting out of death now.

The mist in the air formed dark clouds and hail dropped from the sky. Rukawa sighed. Her bloodlimit was lame. To his surprise, the hail was slamming into the water at such high speeds that the water cleared a tunnel for two seconds before filling the hole again. If he was hit, he would surely die. There was only one way out of this. He had let the stupid kunoichi live for twenty times already.

Zabuzza had been too misguided by the power of bloodlines. Some were pure useless against the stronger bloodlimits. He formed a set of handseals. Blue lightning collected in his right palm soundlessly, and he directed it at Yuuki. The stunned kunoichi watched as her hail stones were put to dust and the beam continued on effortlessly before it caught her in the blazonned chest. She died then and there.

Rukawa put his hand down, panting only slightly. He turned to Itachi's fight. Itachi caught his look and did a couple of hand signals. Nodding, Rukawa disappeared soundlessly into the ground, literally. Seconds later, his hands appeared wielding kunai and they tore the ankle spleens of Zabuzza. Zabuzza howled and dropped to his knees. To his surprise, he sank until his waist was lodged in the bridge. Rukawa rose through the concrete behind them, several feet back, his hands showing the goat seal. "Doton. Shadow Earth no jutsu."

Sakura stepped with Tazuna towards them warily. She had a feeling that the fight was over. She was anxious for Sasuke(-kun). To her horror, Itachi charged forward with his chakra blade in hand. She saw the blank eyes bore into Zabuzza's hard ones. Then Haku suddenly appeared in front of Zabuzza, but Itachi just delt the chakra blade through both of them. Dead.

"Itachi sensei." Sakura said in quiet shock. He had just killed both of them, just like that, without the tiniest of remorse or pity, not even when Haku had sacrificed himself so willingly. She looked away from the corpses.

"That will just disrespect them, Sakura. It was their job to kill us, it was our job to remove the potential threats of Tazuna-san. They did their job well. And they fufilled what it means to be ninja. Don't look away, Sakura," Itachi said. Naruto ran into view. "Haku!"

"Naruto! Where's Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked sweetly. At this, Naruto forgot his momentary excitement, and he shook his head. Sakura's happy face melted away. She feared the worst as she trembled a step forward. Tazuna gripped her tiny forearm. "I'll come with you."

Choking back grieved tears, Sakura rushed to the black shape lying on the floor. She dropped over Sasuke's limp body, senbons sticking from his neck. Naruto came up to Itachi, tears almost spilling. "Itachi-sensei. I'm really sorry, I wasn't strong enough."

Itachi knelt beside Naruto and said kindly, "No, Haku was a S-ranked criminal. Two genins couldn't possibly have matched his experience. Besides, my brother is not dead, he has only been struck at many temporary death areas. Look, he's coming round now."

Naruto wiped away leaking tears and regained composure. Ninjas, he reasoned, didn't cry. As steady as a ghost, Sasuke lifted Sakura off his chest and drew out a couple of senbons at a time from his body. "Ow. That really hurt, Sakura."

Sakura screamed "ghost" and fainted.

Team seven remained in constant viligance, even though Sakura was supporting two blood drenched boys. Sakura took the chance to cuddle her hair in Sasuke's neck. Rukawa walked calmly behind Tazuna, taking in his surroundings. Itachi too was observing queitly.

Obviously the works of samurai. The boar, the scraped trees, all evidence of a blunt katana. These samurai are not proffesional, but are potent Gatou property. The tree five metres away has a strand of brown hair. Woman. The bushes ten metres from it has a thick cloth snagged in its sharper twigs. Inari's clothing.

"Tazuna-san," Itachi asked. "How long till the bridge is completed."

"I reckon about two months, three since we have to gather enough manpower."

"Plan is changed. We'll rent a hotel room and keep a low profile," Itachi checked his pouch for sufficient money before he gathered the group. Tazuna was asking questions that needn't be answered. Quickly, Itachi gathered a long list of hand seals before murmuring, "Mizumaru. Multiple teleportation."

They appeared again in the dank city of Wave country. They were not far from a castle which was in great contrast with their desolated surroundings. Spires spun from behind the great walls, guarded by uniformed thug and samurai, pilfering along the gates and bullying the common folk that crossed their path. The castle was washed with white and red paint, each brick as perfect as its neighbour. A small wood surrounded the castle and its back yard. Not far from it were ten large factories, smoke billowing from its pistonic chimneys. Itachi then pulled Tazuna into a motel. A lady with cheap perfume and powdered face sat behind a counter. She had a log book in front of her. The dirty jug of water did little to appease its filthy surroundings. Two chairs lined the side of the reception area. The cushion was vandalised and torn, revealing lice-bitten sponge.

Itachi walked boldly up to her and said, "I want your best rooms, no questions. I'll pay you five pieces extra. It has to be a window room. Two rooms."

Much to his distaste, the woman laughed snidely. "You missed the poster outside, gentleman. It says cubicle futons. The whole place is totally empty, so I'll let you have the private ones. I want eight pieces extra, though."

Itachi slid the money across, flashing his most charming smile. "Of course."

They followed her up a narrow staircase into a more well kept room. Eight cubicle futons lined the wall. Each was big enough and clean, its spreads with not a speck of dirt. Even the air conditioner was working, humming softly. A two seater couch was put against the wall, not facing anything but the cubicles. The woman gave Itachi the keys and left the room. "No food, but there's a toilet here."

As soon as she left, Tazuna whirled to face Itachi. "What the heck is going on? Tsunami and Inari can be in danger."

Rukawa set Sasuke onto the couch and slid the senbons out more carefully, swabbing each hole with antiseptic. He said, "They already are. Your family has been abducted. Itachi wanted to keep you safe and at the same time rescue your family by tonight. Your bridge building plans will have to wait, even if that's what Gatou wants."

Tazuna stood up and yelled, "Why didn't you tell me sooner? Tsunami- "

Itachi decked him unconcious. He shrugged at a jaw dropped Sakura as he locked the old man in one of the cubicles. "He's an obstacle."

"We'll do shifts. Rukawa, you and Sasuke will stake out at Gatou's area. Take note of every man, and every room. I want a blue print by sun down, with a detailed report. Also, be sure to note Gatou and try to find Tsunami and Inari. Go in if they try to kill or maim them. Here's a red flare. It'll alert us. Naruto, you can sleep for the moment, but in two hours you take over Sakura and guard the door, the window, and Tazuna's cubicle. Here's a red flare each, people. As for me, I need to erase the scene of crime and clear all evidence of death and a fight. I'll also need to bury each and every one of those builders. Plus, a proper burial site for Zabuzza and his cronies."

Rukawa and Sasuke nodded promptly and leapt out of the window. Sasuke followed Rukawa till they reached the foot of the castle walls before leaping into the cover of the tall trees.

Rukawa immediately began to list the number of street gangsters and samurai patrolling the area.

Sasuke asked worriedly once the first thug came back around the gates, "Rukawa, I'm not exactly healed yet, I'm not fit enough for melee battle if it's called for."

Rukawa turned to him, grinning. "Exactly why Itachi put you here with me and not wasting your lazy ass off with Naruto and Sakura. We need the whole team to be in the best shape possible by tonight, and I learnt medical ninjutsu, so…"

Sasuke smiled back and let Rukawa heal the bruises, cuts, and pinholes. Rukawa then slipped two vials out of his belt holster. Within the tiny glass bottles was a clear liquid. "It's easier than soldier pills, and much more effective. So, cheers."

The two ninjas emptied the vials in a few gulps before hiding them inside on of the tree's many knot holes. The potion took immediate effect, replenishing their chakra store in three seconds. Filled with excess chakra, the shinobis leapt off the trees with such speed that the gigolo that had looked up to dig his snot did not see them.

Sasuke summersaulted over the wall and they ducked to the small woodland. Hunters scaled the overgrowth, with ravenous dogs beside them. Rukawa did a few hand signals. Nodding, the boys dispersed in different directions, meeting at the next end of the castle. So far, so good. Until a hunter leased a few arrows for fair game.

Rukawa cursed. He had let his guard down, and they had stopped in a haze of nests. When the arrows soared through the leaves and picked out its first victim, the birds squacked and took flight. With the winged covers gone, the hunter spotted them immediately. Sasuke hopped off the branch immediately, his fall cushioned by the chained beast. As his sandalled feet reached the bull dog, Sasuke kicked sharply. Its neck and jaw was immediately broken. By this time, the hunter had nocked an arrow at Sasuke.

Unfortunately for him, Sasuke was already moving, and he snapped the man's neck bone. Instant death. No blood for scent.

Speaking softly, Sasuke said, "They are the perfect cover, although one of us will have to become the ugly pug."

Seeing Sasuke's pointed look, Rukawa sighed and transformed into the pit bull. Smirking, Sasuke transformed into the hunter. He leashed Rukawa and took up the bow on the ground. Their two victims were hung high in the trees.

Sasuke walked as calmly as he could, trying to put on a lazy yet proffesional look about him. Rukawa sniffed the ground and growled smugly. They soon made their way past the pine trees and mounds of manicured grass to the castle of business magnate, Gatou Irushima.

They entered the spire to the right, Rukawa confirming that the route smelt of game and hunter odour. The guard at the front nodded to Sasuke. "Kishina, no game tonight?"

"No. Man, this slab o' dog meat has a failing nose. No pigeon, I'm 'fraid," Sasuke nudged Rukawa with the toe of his boot. The guard laughed and let them pass. Apparently, they had entered through the back door, but the security was still very tight. Two samurais relieved him of his bow and arrow, though they allowed Rukawa through. If they had padded him down more thoroughly, they would have found the Sasuke had hidden a wide arsenal of weapons to his undercoat.

They climbed a narrow spiral of stone steps, and through a trap door. One look at the soft carpet of animal skin showed that they were officially in Gatou's castle. Rukawa's sharp nose found them the laundry. Releasing their transformations, Sasuke dumped his heavy hunter clothes in exchange for a more casual servant's tunic, as did Rukawa. They patrolled the spire carefully, taking note of every room. Sasuke was surprised at the bare furniture. The décor might have been averagely lavish, but it was simple, merely four bunks per every large room, housing eight people. Sasuke did not know what he had expected, bare wood or rich expansiveness.

Naruto tied put on his sandals for the sixth time. They were so bored that they were doing lame things, and Sakura even started to stare at the clouds like a true Nara.

"Sakura, this is so boring! How come Sasuke and Rukawa get to stake out while we have to sit in this smelly place?" Naruto exuded loudly. Inner and Outer Sakura replied in agreement. Then she said, "Still, I suppose guarding is still part of the mission. At least we're not clearing up rotting corpses like Itachi sensei is doing right now."

Naruto mulled over for many moments. When Sakura had given up waiting for his response and totally forgotten about the conversation, the blonde suddenly piped up, "Hey, Sakura, you're right!"

Itachi put the last of bodies onto the large pile of gore. Standing back, he shouted and released fire through his lips, "Katon! Goukakyu no jutsu!"

The large fireball engulfed them immediately, the heat dispersing them into ash, and it wisped up with the smoke into the sea. Respects.

Itachi looked sadly as the last finger was swallowed, then shouted again, "Mizu! Water dragon blast no jutsu!"

Water welled up over the bridge and above the fire, before heaping onto the orange mass, dousing the flames quickly. Itachi walked away. It was a crude and sloppy way, considering that the fumes might alert the villagers or Gatou himself. Nevertheless, it was economical, and hey, he was a ninja after all. During the great Ninja wars, it was a common disposal method until people had enough sense to use Earth Element techniques.

Finally, he stopped at Zabuzza, Haku, and Yuuki's destroyed bodies. Itachi summoned four shadow clones. Three picked up the three bodies, while the last took up Zabuzza's proud sword. Itachi led them to a mound not too far from the bridge, and used a Doton jutsu to make three holes, six feet deep. When the entire process was done and the earth was returned to its origin, Itachi slammed Zabuzza's sword behind Zabuzza's grave. It was done. His clones disappeared, and Itachi strolled casually. There was no reason for him to be alarmed by death. Tsunami and Inari had been abducted, and it was partially his fault for not planning their defense system well enough. So much for the former title of ANBU captain.

Itachi purchased twelve styrofoam bowls of Instant Ramen from a recently supplied provisions shop. Itachi strode through the dingy streets of Wave Country, ignoring the market places. The decomposing vegetables and heavily salted fish was less healthy compared to the cup noodles in his paper bag. His mind was turned to the conversation he had exchanged with Sasuke before.

"Aniki, this is not within our mandate. We were merely ordered to protect Tazuna tillthe bridge was finished. Why do you plan to close Gatou down?"

"_It may not be within our mission perimetres, Sasuke, but think. Gatou had the contacts to hire two of the Seven Swordsmen of Hidden mist, and a powerful accomplice. He has hundreds of people under his control. He can easily hire missing nin without paying much, and a few hundred extra for getting a proffesional ANBU from a hidden village isn't too hard for Gatou. The bridge Tazuna is a potential threat to his whole plan. Sometimes a good offense is the best defense. Assasinating Gatou and closing his trade will shut off all threats and decrease the risks of our mission and team."_

"_Even so, Aniki, if Gatou is gone, I'm sure that there will be many who will want revenge. We'll only be landing ourselves in deeper shit."_

"_Yeah, but what do you think is right? We are a few of the leaves that fuel Konoha village's fire. Unlike some ninja villages, we are trusted for our effectiveness. Sasuke, ask this to youself: Can you sacrifice your happiness for the greater good?"_

_Itachi watched as his younger brother struggled for a second, before he looked up, determination firing his onyx orbs. "Yes, Aniki. I can."_

Itachi chuckled softly. He wondered if his only family understood the full consequences of his answer, especially since they were the only survivors of the Uchiha clan… and since Rukawa was with them.

Itachi peeled the smoking cover of his Instant Ramen and sat on the floor. He chewed on his noodles as he looked at the detailed maps drawn onto the scrolls with precision that shocked Tazuna. Beside the maps were numbers jotted onto parchment, describing the statistics.

Sasuke and Rukawa told him of the security situation. Naruto was digging into his ramen happily, whilst Sakura was struggling with the salty yet boring taste. She was used to nicely packed bento boxes, or even Tsunami's cooking. _Tsunami… Inari…_

Naruto noticed her shift of emotion and placed a hand over hers. "We'll rescue them, Sakura. The five of us, as a team."

Sakura looked up, "Naruto! Since when did you say such intelligence things?"

She softened at Naruto's pout. "Nah, I was joking. Thanks, Naruto."

Naruto smiled happily back. It was good to be around friends, to feel welcomed, part of the team.

Tazuna chomped angrily on his noodles. He had shouted and kicked furiously when he was let out, though his mood lightened considerably when Sasuke threatened to leave his family to die, and when Rukawa said that he would be an important piece of the rescue plan. Of course his temper had flared when he had realised that Rukawa, a small boy, had considered him a chess piece!

Itachi crouched atop the ledge at the base of one of the spire roofs. Sakura and Sasuke was behind him, hidden in the shadows. When a patrol of guards walked pass from below, they leapt to the next spire, chakra concentrated heavily on their feet. The three of them inched down the wall, careful to blend into the shadows. They reached Gatou's balcony without incident.

With a flick of his wrist, Itachi directed his students into the room. Gatou was sleeping surprisingly soundly for one so wretched. He was snug under the duvet, sleeping on a springy mattress supported by the four poster frame. The low mutterings of the two samurai posted outside his door, so the slightest sound would be heard. It would have to be a queit assasination. Sasuke guarded the door, two kunai drawn one for each hand. Sakura was posted in front of the balcony entrance. Itachi crept over Gatou silently, disgusted by the perverse face in front of him. He drew a senbon and tuck it against Gatou's neck. The old man did not stir. With a swift jab, Itachi punctured a tiny but fatal point, and took the needle out. No blood or visible evidence. Satisfied, Team Seven looked at the clock hung on Gatou's wall before silently opening the door and killing the two samurai Foruji and Takashi. It was nine in the night. The time when the guards changed shift. The team of three had exactly fifteen minutes to wipe out the whole of Gatou's staff before their plan would fail.

They created ten shadow clones each and rushed about the central castle, killing everyone in sight. Sakura yelled a tight-pitched war cry before she dove through the servant's and cooks, using her katana to severe their lives. In minutes, they were dead. Panting heavily and blood-splattered, Sakura went to the next department.

Sasuke gritted his teeth before he appeared behind the street thug. Even though they were only hooligan material, a genin facing a hundred gangsters was not a smart choice. Instead, he went for the quick and stealthy approach, and the eleven Sasuke's annihilated the entire bunch without breaking a sweat. Closing the door of the training room, Sasuke locked the smell of blood and gore behind him as he hurried to the other training facility, his ten clones trailing after him.

Itachi was by far the most productive, seeing that he had been an ANBU member and was a jounin. He took the whole level himself, and managed to avoid direct confrontation until ten experienced mercenaries locked in on him. Most of them had been genin or academy level samurais, but these kunoichis were real chuunins. Luckily, Itachi had eight clones left, and they finished the females off successfully. Itachi grimaced. He was a ninja, but his experiences with bullying whole bunches of girls to death was not his cup of tea. It helped to know that they were the gothic type, with thick black eye shadows and black lipstick, plus luminous gay colours for hair.

Yamazaki Tatsunosuke slid the two heavy metal doors of the large warehouse powerfully and strode through it with every arrogance that even Gatou could not muster. The bunch looked up from their two prizes to stare at the man.

This person was dressed in shiny black leather, with shiny silver accessories dangling from his wrists and neck, skulls shambling from every corner. Even his boots exuded gothic evil.

The leader had a tiger imprinted on his bare chest, muscles pumping from every square inch, and brown oil was slathered across his skin to give him a terrifying and hardened look. He walked up to Tatsunosuke and growled, "What's up with your guts?"

"I am Yamazaki Tatsunosuke, war lord of the secret organization Firecrest. I can offer you triple the money that the lumpy shit Gatou gives you. In fact, if you entertain me with those two nuggets over there enough, I'll give a whole years pay. Well, that's the money I have. You'll be the first of Gatou Corporation to join me, so I'm offering you peeps high positions. You know the number of zeroes behind me bank account now. Take it or leave it, now."

The leader of the Tigers glared thoughtfully at Tatsunosuke, baring his chest even more. The man did not seem intimidated, and merely picked a chair from the floor and sat on it, looking at the Tigers chief coldly. He evidently had power, confidence, and loads of cash. The gang leader, named Tatki, took a blade from his pocket and closed his other hand around it tightly, so that it bled. Then Tatki bowed low. The gesture of fealty. The rest of his gang kneeled too, head bowed.

Quickly as it happened, Tatsunosuke impaled Tatki with his own blade. Naruto had killed the rest of the gang. He had climbed to the metal boards above while the Tigers were distracted by Tatsunosuke. Naruto then ripped the gags off Tsunami and Inari. The woman was half unconcious with her battered body over Inari's. The woman was much more bruised, and Naruto could only assume that she had protected Inari when they tortured the two.

Shaking with anger, Naruto undied their bounds and Tatsunosuke took over to heal their wounds as he transformed back into Kazuhiko Rukawa. They sat together and waited. While they waited, Naruto said, "Shit. Shit! Rukawa, they should be here by now! We started out at least half and hour after they did. Shit…"

"Naruto, calm down. Killing more than seven hundred men takes time," Rukawa said kindly. "They aren't going to die. Remember, Itachi sensei is with them."

Naruto nodded feverishly and looked at Tsunami and Inari. They had fainted.

Suddenly, the metal door clanged open again and three figures lurched through the door way. Rukawa and Naruto stood up in defence. Itachi raised a hand. "Hey… we're done. Now that we've cleared the wimps… Sakura, take Tsunami and Inari to the inn. You still have the flares. Be on the alert always. Take this time to rest. We'll be depending on you a lot when we get back. Naruto, Rukawa, let's go."

The team dispersed and set off.

The higher ranked ninjas all hid deep in the forest. With their dangerous antics, with hunter-nins hot on their tail, and with their professional neads, Gatou had built a large building just for the couple of missing nin willing to serve the business magnate.

This time, Itachi stopped them two hundred metres away from the large red… building. From far, the building looked like a diamond floating in the air, captured by the mysterious beauty that the forest exuded. From near, it was more like the bases of two maroon cones pasted together and suspended by cables.

"Okay, this time, we won't split into groups. I don't think too many high leveled ninjas would want to dimnish their ego to work for Gatou scum, so a direct approach will be the easiest. Do not hold back, and never lower your guard. Even if looks like a small harmless girl, do not hestitate to kill her. No one harmless will be in that area, filled with the deadliest people and headed by Gatou. Showing pity will be the last thing you'll do if you let your nindo go. Understood?"

The boys nodded at Itachi. A week or more before, Itachi wouldn't have been willing to trust any of them other than Rukawa for this job. Now, seeing their determined gazes, that of a real ninja, he was certain that they would succeed. They were only genin, but Naruto was the Kyuubi vessel, Sasuke was an Uchiha genius, and Rukawa was a seasoned survivor. There was nothing to worry about unless Naruto lost control, if Sasuke was killed, and if Rukawa became Kazuya. For Itachi, that was a lot to worry for.

Sasuke closed his eyes to calm his excited soul. _This time, I won't disappoint Aniki. I won't rely on anyone. This time, I'll do my job with my own strength so that Aniki won't have to worry about me. _

"Sasuke," Itachi said in a low voice. "We're a team. Even though we have our weaknesses, we also have our strengths. We'll look out for each other. It's not a solo match anymore."

The four leapt off the branch and advanced towards the tower.

The renegade ninjas were already at the entrance room. It was large and the ceiling was high, all polished stone and marble. Two curved sets of straicases lined both sides to a higher ledge. Axes, spears, scorch knives, and all sorts of antique weapons racked the cream painted walls.

Naruto felt something grab his crotch. Fear. The seven ninjas were radiating intense levels of killer intent. Itachi's and Rukawa's were far worse, he could almost see it, a cold mad rush. Naruto gripped hard at his kunai, and a wrench of nerve pain shot through his hand for that second. _By this pain, I swear I'll never back away again! _Naruto remembered thinking to himself on that day.

Itachi was relieved. Naruto had indeed grown a lot from the dead last he had been. When he heard Naruto unleash his furious war cry, he thought, _though he's still dead last among the four of us._

Smirking, Sasuke followed Naruto's foot steps, and met with his first opponent. At the first contact, Sasuke activated his Sharingan. Dodging a flying kick, Sasuke grabbed the ankle passing overhead and twisted it, sending its owner into the cream wall. _Chuunin level…_ The ninja flipped over, facing Sasuke, he was smirking visibly. "Ninpou! Homing daggers no jutsu!"

Contracted by chakra strings, the axes soared from the walls straight at Sasuke. Sasuke twisted to the left to avoid one blade before jumping above another. He stepped on the flat of one axe which propelled him towards the dangerous chuunin. Sasuke lifted his right hand to his mouth…

"Katon! Gokakyuu no jutsu!" A large ball of fire erupted from Sasuke's mouth and enveloped the chuunin at one metre point blank. The flames scorched the creamy paint off and burnt the plaster. Sasuke immediately flipped back to the middle of the hall. If the chuunin was still alive, he would have time to either block a direct attack or his homing missiles.

True enough, the polished arrows from the back were ripped from their wooden frames and were hurtled at Sasuke. The genin deflected the metals easily. _So, this is his advanced bloodlimit? Controlling metal… How do I defeat him?_

A man shot from the smoke, his entire body clade with metal strips. "Iron Hand no jutsu!"

The metal bands swirled around Sasuke in a tight fog before clamping right through him. The chuunin smirked. Just as he had intended. Licking his painful burns, the missing nin waited to see his opponent's gored corpse.

"Bakuhatsu Bunshin no jutsu!" The chuunin made to move, but his burning wounds caught up with him and the ninja was thrown off his feet. The real Sasuke took advantage of this immediately. He hopped up the wall to grab a broad ended spear and leapt down again to impale his enemy. "Shine!"

In his pain and confusion, the chuunin twisted away in mid air, grabbed the handle of the spear, and whirled Sasuke around into the wall. Sasuke let go of the spear. The chuunin thudded to the ground and set off again, leaping up at Sasuke. Sasuke, meanwhile, coughed up blood as he slammed into the plaster. Seeing the chuunin land face down for the moment, Sasuke muttered, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu."

Leaving his clone bleeding on the wall, he leapt away. The blood crazed chuunin shot into the air and pierced his shadow clone easily. Sasuke landed on top of the shinobi, a narrow spear shoved deep into his shoulder. The chuunin roared in agony. "Kuso! You slimy bastard! Ninpou! Homing daggers no jutsu!"

With alarming speed, the weapons flew off the walls, and even the spear head embedded in the chuunin's body ripped from his side into Sasuke, who had leapt off the chuunin into the air. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Four shadow clones broke from Sasuke and surrounded him… "Bakuhatsu bunshin no jutsu!"

The bunshins exploded, spinning the metal blades away into the walls again. Struck by the impact of the exploded clones, Sasuke was thrown to the floor with a powerful force. Four shreds of metal were embedded in him. It could have been a lot worse. A bleeding, irate, and crazed chuunin landed a few feet from him, clutching his broken shoulder. "Damn you, Konoha genin! Heh heh… I almost killed you back there, now, you've only postponed the inevitable. As you die, I want you to remember my name, Megune Karatsu off Rai Country!"

Karatsu unhooked a cord of chains from his belt. "Now, taste the fury of my chain whip!"

"Dance of the hard metal!" Eyes widened, Sasuke tried desperately to evade the taut line of chain the struck at him. Karatsu was maneuvering his whip so fast that it appeared as ten cords.

"Kuargh!" Sasuke cried out as each swipe was a strike. Sasuke gritted his teeth and tried to keep the pain in his foot inside. The ankle was broken. Aside from that, nine other parts of his body was so bruised that they bled. Sasuke stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Itachi was battling two Suna ninja brothers. These two shinobi had a pretty unique bloodlimit. Each of them could divide into five bodies. Unlike clones, who will disappear upon unblocked contact, these bodies could take direct beating and yet perform at the same level as their user.

Unfortunately for Itachi, even though he had pin pointed the originals and killed them, the other four individuals were still alive. He still had eight Suna chuunins to contend with.

Itachi kicked away one clone so that he could go through one quick set of seals. "Katon! Housenka no jutsu!"

Of the ten fireballs that erupted, only two hit one shinobi directly in the chest, while a third scraped another. Itachi was hunched over, his right hand still at his lips. Taking that second, three of the Suna divisions leapt at him and lodged their kunai's into his fatal spots. "Bakuhatsu bunshin no jutsu!"

The clone exploded, with three exploding tags strapped onto the clone, the combined attack finished off the three clones. Itachi stole a long katana from the racks and faced the last four divisions in a defensive position. They surrounded him from all four sides, and knew how to capitalize on his blind spots. As they danced back and forth, Itachi was soon facing heavily armed shinobis.

The Suna shinobi were weary. Fighting the quick footed Itachi was like holding back river rapids with thin plywood. Wood could bend to a certain extend until it would break. Itachi faked a strong uppercut before jabbing one division easily. One less chakra signature. The other ninjas charged at him, weapons held high. Itachi dodged and clashed swords, but they finally slashed his left arm. Itachi stumbled three steps back, the bloodied katana in his right hand. His opponents had changed the tandem of their breathing. It was slower and more controlled, which was very dangerous. Calm was swamped over them. Itachi crouched even lower. A thread of sweat slid down the side of his face. He would have to fight methodically.

Itachi sneered at the Suna men. "Your employer, Gatou, is dead. We assasinated him. Why did you leave your village just to work for a few measly scraps from a dog? Are you stupid?"

The men twitched in anger. _Yes, get annoyed… I need you to fall for this…_ "Speak not of what you do not comprehend, Village's pup. Killing a few weak people for a large sum of gold would fund our activities. Do not estimate us as if you have the capacity to, Konoha nin."

"You only say so because your measuring stick isn't long enough to measure my powers," Itachi stated before his foot shifted. With a flash of katana, Itachi drew blood from one and met a swing sword with his own blade. Taking advantage of his open lower body, one of the Suna ninjas jabbed at him with a long spear. Itachi used his opponent's blade as a lever before he hefted himself up, letting his body freeze in midair and allowe the spear to pass under him. Concentrating copius amounts of chakra at his feet, Itachi slammed his boot's onto the handle of the spear and broke the wood and the Suna nin's left hand. Itachi spun to the right then attacked from the left. This perfect diversion disposed of the spear-armed shinobi. Itachi clashed swords with his previous katana-user before using quick one handed seals. " Katon! Ryuuka no jutsu!"

Itachi boiled the shinobi alive in a matter of seconds. Now, there was only one deeply grieved and scared brother left. Itachi advanced upon him slowly, alert for sudden attacks.

Rukawa fitted the triple clawed band over his hand so that he could grip it completely. The metal band was below his four fingers, but above the start of his thumb, and it fitted like any other kunai would in hand. With three claws protruding from each clenched hand, Rukawa looked like a savage wolf.

He faced the three kunoichi. Instead of toned muscles, these women had bulging biceps and incredible thighs. They covered their top bodies with a leather red bra with a small jacket to complement the polished muscles. Each carried a different weapon. One, who was named by her companions Elva, used a large flamethrower in hand. It was bulky, and of dark titanium. The bolts and screws were obviously tampered with. Rukawa took note of that.

Then there was the other, Yeti. She had silver, rough hair that fanned out behind her thick neck. Two chains of mini crossbow bolt-like heads were strapped, criss-cross, about her body builder frame. Large multiple release catapult the shape of long boxes were strapped to the back of her fore arms.

The three women had given their names at first encounter, but Rukawa had been the most affronted by the third. She had even shouted her name. "ROSE! GUNSLINGER ROSE!"

Unlike her name, Rose did not have any weapon which could be shot or hurled. She did not even have a shuriken pouch strapped over her thigh. Instead, a heavy-nosed hammer rested in her hand. Rukawa saw that the square shaped head would glow a crimson shade whenever she inserted chakra into it. Rukawa crouched down even further. Their tendons were well used and stretched. Obviously agile and flexible, yet heavy. These women were at least of jounin make. They were also Rock ninja. Rukawa bent towards the ground, ready to spring.

Rock ninja were known to admit genin into Chuunin rank easily, for the number of rogue assignments were like rainfall to them. To have genin take up a chuunin's job would lose credibility. Even with the bulk of chuunin's, the promotion to jounin was difficult. No normal konoha jounin would be able to take on a normal rock jounin.

The first load of tiny crossbow bolts came, their numbers amplyified by a cloning jutsu. Rukawa leapt high into the air over the flurry of bolts and twisted for Elva's back. Meeting her head on would be fatal. Sure enough, she had already punched the trigger of her flamethrower, and Rukawa winced as kerosene-scented flames soared inches from his left leg. The cuff of his left pant was singed. Even so, Rukawa landed behind Elva in perfect position to strike. His claws were met by the flamthrower. _This woman moves damn fast!_

Even though her flamthrower was behind her back, Elva pushed Rukawa off easily as though he was facing her front. The boy had no time to react to the heavy fling. He slammed into the wall, his left forearm scraping the edge of a spear, sending a deep gash. His back was bruised; any jumping would promise hard pain. Rukawa was up on his feet again, for he had the tolerance for pain.

How many times had Shisui put him against this sort of training? Hundreds. Of course, none of them were so skilled. He had only hope to kill at least two and get himself too badly hurt to fight the third well. Rose had already moved. She was on top of Rukawa, ready to slam down her chakra-infused hammer into his head. Rukawa dashed away at the last moment, missing the literal head-on blow. But Rose had twisted right to swing her hammer in another direction. Rukawa did a drop step and hopped over the swinging hammer, then swung his right hand up to cut the hammer's handle. It didn't go through. Instead, Elva moved in front of him and fired. Yeti let loose a hoard of cross bow bolts before the three women leapt away. Rukawa spun around to gain leverage before escaping.

The boy crashed into the floor. His left leg had a slight burn and his right calf had been scraped by many bolts. A burst of concentrated chakra had prevented any bolts from reaching his body dead on. Hearing whizzes behind him, Rukawa forced himself to leap up in a somersault so that he landed on the wall feet first.

Bolts landed were he had been previously, Yeti standing in the distance alone. Her two companions preferred closer contact. When Elva stood fractions away on the floor to cover up for Rose, the self-proclaimed gunslinger was slamming holes into the wall, sending chips flying everywhere. She moved as quick as a panther even though her blows shook like elephants. They rammed through the walls like missiles crumbling rock. Dodging three slams and double feinting, Rukawa ran up the long hammer handle and delt a full house kick to Rose. As the gigantic monster veered away , Yeti fired a long line of fire at the konoha ninja who was caught in midair.

"Kaiten!" Rukawa yelled as the fire seared around him. The boy landed on his feet, panting. His opponents had no such qualms for rest. They advanced quickly even as he performed handseals… "Katon! Housenka no jutsu!"

Elva blocked the fireballs with her flamethrower. Yeti caught a second degree burn to her right arm. It was her trigger arm, so Rukawa grinned. Rose loaded her hammer with chakra and slammed its head threw each fireball to dispel them all. Following through her defense, Rose took up the offensive. "Ninpou! GRANDSLAM no jutsu!"

Rose quickened her pace suddenly and brought the hammer straight into the boy's small stomach, cracking all of his ribs. Blood came out even as he sailed through the air. Rose put extra chakra into her hammer and intended to blast him through the ceiling when the boy used the last of his strength to grip the handle of her weapon. To her horror, he grinned at her even though blood was still spewing out. "Rai! Electric Prison no jutsu!"

Unlike Rukawa, Rose was not a bunshin, so she caught the full blow of his ninjutsu. Her body was painfully rigid as lightning flowed through her body, and her hard frame blasted through the ceiling. Even as she continued sailing through the air, life had left her.

Even if Yeti and Elva were much grieved, their stony faces did not show it. Instead, they moved faster with even more coordination. Ten minutes of dodging and jumping later, Rukawa was punched by Yeti. She sneered as he took in the pain before throwing him off. As he soared through the air, Elva raised her flamethrower and fired. Rukawa disappeared into an arrow which hung from the wall, and appeared where the arrow was, far from the two kunoichi. Rukawa could feel his boots slipping down the wall slowly. He was exhausted and his body was either cut, scraped, punctured, or burnt. The bruise which was forming on his abdominals was just an added bonus. But at least he had not been skewered by Elva.

The two had been slashed or stabbed savagely by Rukawa, but their wounds were mild compared with their determination to kill him. The pain was muffled by their will. Still, much of their chakra and kerosene or crossbow bolts were depleted.

Rukawa panted as he tiredly raised his arms in defense, his claws bloodied. Blood flowed and occasionally blinded his eyes by crimson. Even though the wounds were not deep, head wounds still pumped out the gallons.

The two parties stood where they were, gathering upon their reserves. Their final clash would decide the winner.

Itachi finished the last brother and looked up to see Rukawa struggling with two women. Sasuke was still fighting it out with his chuunin. Naruto was fighting a monkey-like ninja. The young adult looked to be either high genin or low chuunin. Still, Naruto was a young genin. Itachi dashed over and finished the man off for Naruto.

Naruto looked up panting and bruised and whined, "Itachi sensei! I almost had him! You didn't need to interfere! It was my battle!"

"I told you before he was a team and no fight was ours alone," Itachi said to the boy. "Anyway, Sasuke needs help with his metal-controlling chuunin even though he looked as if he was doing fine earlier on. I need to aid Rukawa. Let's go."

Naruto nodded and ran for a raven-haired adolescent and a taller individual. Upon reaching the two, Naruto drew out five shuriken and hurled them at the taller man. To his surprise, the shurikens spun around a hundred and eighty degrees before flying towards him. Naruto grabbed a shield from the wall and the shurikens bounced off it. Karatsu contracted the shield and sent Naruto into the wall, the shield pinning him to it and crushing his ribs slowly.

Stricken, Sasuke made for Naruto but Karatsu went up to meet him with a roundhouse punch and a drop kick. Already exhausted of all power points, Sasuke sank to the ground unconcious. Karatsu then turned to Naruto and walked slowly forward, sneering and gaining breath. The Uchiha had been a tough customer. He had a feeling that this trapped blondie would be a piece of cake.

Itachi would have left Rukawa to fend against the two motherloads, but he had already interfered with Naruto's and Sasuke's fight, so interfering in Rukawa's fight would not be too unfair.

Sensing that his sensei had come, Rukawa threw a kunai in front of Itachi. _Don't intefere in this. Is that what you're trying to tell me, Rukawa? Or is it to join the fight._ Itachi wondered.

Elva and Yeti saw the boy throw his dagger and turned to see Itachi. In that second, they realised, and cursing mentally, they spun around as quickly as they could…

Rukawa rammed into Yeti, slapping her catapult device away and burrowing his right claws into her heart. He then raised his left arm to block Elva's kick, which shattered the bone. Ignoring the pain, Rukawa unsheathed his claws from Yeti's chest and punched toward's Elva's head. The woman caught the blades in her fist. She then forced Rukawa down by putting her limbs down. Using her free hand, she hefted her flamethrower. Point blank and instant roast.

Before Elva knew it, she was dead, a chakra blade pouring dark blood out of her chest. Itachi retracted the blade. Rukawa was one the floor panting heavily, blood flowing all about, staining his clothes. He shrugged his clawed weapons off his hands and looked at Itachi. "I need some of your chakra to heal me. I'm empty."

Itachi had expected anger, even a confrontation, so this was a pleasant surprise. Smiling, the shinobi powered chakra to his hands and clamped them over Rukawa's. Slowly, the boy had healed his broken arm. Itachi then helped Rukawa up before letting the boy stand on his own.

Suddenly, Itachi saw a clenched fist heading for his face before Rukawa decked him. The boy stood triumphant over him and declared, "That was for interfering."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Since this is an Uchiha/Aikawa/Kazuhiko fanfic, I'll skip Naruto's fight. Let's just say that Rukawa and Itachi saw Naruto unleash part of Kyuubi's prowess. Sasuke is still unconciouss.

Naruto's crimson eyes widened into cerulean blue as he became the genin he was again. Karatsu was half dead. Suddenly, the man straightened and yelled, "Iron Blast no jutsu!"

Before the metal jutsu was completed, Naruto had formed the ram seal… "Sexy no jutsu!"

Karatsu nose bled and fell over. The act of nose bleeding had cost him his life.

Naruto changed from naked material to the orange jumpered genin he was. "Bye bye to the pervs!"

Behind him, two people sweat dropped, Sasuke groaned in his sleep. Itachi picked him up and motioned to Naruto and Rukawa, "Let's go."

Author's Note: … I hope I brought some laughs, and that my fight scenes have improved. Actually, I sort of wanted the Haku/ Sasuke/ Naruto fight to be a really big one, but the more I wrote, the more I went off course, so I came up with this chapter. Please review!

Plus... well, today was a really bad day for me. My chinese essay got mocked in front of the whole class by my teacher... andI failed it, even though I shouldn't have. But I guess it was pretty bad, seeing that my chinese is lousy and most of it is a direct transalation from English. Anyway, I shouldn't get depressed, cos I'll be working harder and get a 40/70, then I'll see what she has to say about my work!

Anyway, thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter Five Happy Endings

Disclaimer: I'm not the genius who created Naruto, so I don't own it. Author's Note: Okay, the title is probably stupid off the charts, but anyway, this is a new chapter. Thanks for the reviews and favourites and alerts… and 956 hits! Yay! Thanks for reading, but please review too, it would help a lot. Chapter Five—Happy Endings 

Tazuna kneeled on the floor, dabbing pain killer onto Tazuna's bruises. The cuts were mere scratches though the bruises blotched his daughter's body like the plague. Meanwhile, Sakura bandaged Inari and laid the boy in his futon cubicle. She had injected sleeper drugs into the boy, hoping that all of their party would be healed by the time he woke up.

Sakura noted the old man's worry and tried to comfort him by saying gently, "Tazuna-san, please don't worry. I'm sure that they have finished off the last of Gatou and his men. When Rukawa comes back, he will definetely use his medical jutsus to return you family to full health."

"The chess player?" Tazuna asked. Sakura was shocked by the coldness in his voice, but answered, "Yes. So, please do not worry."

Just then, the door opened. Sakura took up her kunai, but relaxed when she saw it was the others. Naruto had his fist clenched and thrust towards Sakura, and produced a weird clicking sound. The clicking device was one of a kind, created and given by Uchiha Itachi himself. This way, no one would be able to impersonate Team Seven easily.

Tazuna walked up to Rukawa immediately and said, "Heal my daughter and grandson."

Rukawa looked oddly at the old man for a long moment. Then he broke it and went to Tsunami without saying a word. He did a long and complex array of hand seals which would amplify his little chakra then placed his hands over the woman, so close that it almost touched. Soon, she was relieved of all cuts and bruises. Rukawa did the same for her son.

When they woke up, Tsunami and Inari did not question their companions, and Tazuna did not say a word to his bodyguards, even though he acted normally around his family. That night, after a dinner of hot soup and bread, they retired to bed, crawling into their cubicles and closing the entrance shutters. Sasuke and Rukawa stayed awake to guard the door.

"Hey, Sasuke, help me to take out all of these studs," Rukawa said and gestured the little bolts that had pierced his body. The wounds had been painful, but he had the training to tolerate it, so it had been fine by him. Half an hour later, Rukawa was returned to full health.

"Rukawa, when I was young, I wanted to be one of the top captains of the Konoha Police Corps."

Rukawa looked up, and saw that the young Uchiha was staring out of the window into the stars. Sasuke took in the cool nigeht air and continued, "After I learnt the treachery of the Uchihas, I couldn't bring myself to become a police officer. Not even after they had died. Now that I've become a genin, I was wondering what I'd do after I became a chuunin and had a choice between ANBU and Jounin. If I was in ANBU, I would want to be of the special hit forces, or the Criminal Investigations Department. I don't think I'd want to be a jounin, for I won't be able to handle teaching genin."

Rukawa stared at Sasuke. Why was the Uchiha telling him this now? Sure, Sasuke was around chuunin level, but he did not have the ample experience of missions or killing. _No, he has killed, for it was his duty. But has he killed the innocent. Even under orders, to kill the helpless would be a huge blow to his mind. Is he talking of his dreams? Of revenge?_

Rukawa decided to be direct. "Why are you telling me this?"

Sasuke looked away and checked the lock of the door. "No, I just… I just wanted to let you know the things I want to be… Just to tell you as a friend."

Rukawa stared at the Uchiha for a long time. _This mission has really rocked him…_ He smiled and replied calmly, "Okay. Then I'll tell you too. I want to become a hunter-nin and to be a solo member unless requested. I'll hunt and bring down the Akatsuki."

"For Shisui?"

"Perhaps. He, however, is not my main goal in life anymore."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Itachi paid the motel fee and gave the receipt to Tazuna. "I'm billing you for this. Please pay it along with the added fee once you've received enough money. Konoha will not appreciate having to waste manpower by sending out a genin team to chase you for money. I believe that our team has done all that we could, putting Gatou and his men out of Wave Country permenantly, and protecting you to this day. Our duty is finished here."

Tazuna nodded gruffly and shook hands with the jounin instructor. Tsunami and Inari were still sleeping. Itachi had decided to leave as soon as possible so that they would not be caught up in any added missions. This double A-ranked mission proved to be mentally disturbing for Sakura and Sasuke, and only partially for Naruto. Rukawa had been injured and their client appeared displeased. Itachi also grimaced at the amount of paperwork that would have to be done.

It was the crack of dawn. Team Seven had not slept for more than three hours, but none of them said anything. Naruto had feebly tried to hype up the dank situation with little result.

Team Seven left Wave Country silently.

The Sandaime paced his study, puffing hard on his elm pipe. The Chuunin Exams were to be hosted soon. To his surprise, all of the rookie genins were nominated into the exam. There were rumours picked up by Konoha spies that the Sound and Wind were on the move. Usually only three genins would be admitted into the Chuunin rank, but with such times, the council had decided to allow ten chuunins.

The hokage had posted Ibiki, Anko, and Genma as the main examiners. As high ranking jounins, they would be able to maintain peace for a bit if anything cropped up.

A hawk flew in with a note tied to its claw. Sarutobi stripped it and read it. Team Seven had returned from a dangerous mission of at least AA rank. Uchiha Itachi would be pleased to received bonuses and an apology from the hokage himself.

The hokage stepped out of his office and addressed his secretary, "Hikaru, please remind all jounin instructors that the chuunin exams are only three days away."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto yelled and pitched himself into Itachi, who picked the boy off and Thousand Years of Pained off the blonde.

Still, Naruto rubbed his buttocks and said dreamily, "Oooh… the Chuunin Exams. I love you, Itachi-sensei!"

Itachi punched the face heading for his lips. He sighed at Naruto. "Naruto, unlike my brother, I am not of Yaoi material.

"Anyway," Itachi continued, ignoring his Sasuke, who shook his fists at his brother. "The Chuunin Exams is a battle between all of the ninja villages, so do not embarress the Hidden Leaf. Plus, since all of you have killed and accomplished a AA-rank mission, I believe that all of you can pass, if you tried. Our meeting ends today."

Naruto, Sasuke, Rukawa, and Sakura nodded. Their jounin instructor had earned their respect. If anything, withing those few weeks under his tutorage, they had experienced ninja maturity and witnessed their growth. Itachi had also proved his worth and that he would protect them at all costs. To them, Itachi was like family.

Naruto smiled, waved, and turned away. Rukawa nodded to the Uchiha brothers and followed Naruto, shoving his hands into his pockets and talking with the blond. Naruto enthusiastically shared his dream of becoming hokage for the two hundred and thirtieth time and Rukawa replied happily likewise.

Sakura looked at the two retreating figures for a moment before turning to Itachi. The Uchiha, along with Sasuke, agreed to help her train. Itachi decided to help the girl in genjutsu techniques, while Sasuke would act as her opponent

Sasuke glared at Rock Lee. After his team had unfoiled the chuunins' plan to fail genjutsu-stupid idiots, the genin clad in green spandex had followed them to the landing. The taijutsu specialist had demanded a match.

Rock Lee landed on the floor and looked at Sakura, and said, "Sakura, please, will you go out with me?"

"No," Sakura replied flatly. Rock Lee clenched his fists and pumped them. Tears streamed from his sparkling round eyes, and his bobbed hair flew around him. "Ah! What a beautiful refusal! Oh, Sakura! Oh, pretty flower! What must I do to profess my love? The answer is obvious! To fight your knight Uchiha Sasuke and prove that I am your true knight in shining armour! So, Uchiha Sasuke, fight me!"

Sasuke turned around, annoyed. "Tch. You're not worth my time."

"What? Scared? Are you afraid of Konoha's number one genin?" Lee taunted.

Sasuke spun around and retorted, "Don't joke, fuzzy eye brows. Konoha's number one genin is right here, Kazuhiko Rukawa."

Rock Lee shook his head and demanded, "Whatever your lies are, Uchiha, fight me."

"Fine. Naruto, Sakura, Rukawa, step back. I'll deal with him. Five minutes is all I need."

When Rock Lee started forward, Sasuke realised that at his current level that he would not be able to match his speed, so, he split into five kage bunshins and they advanced for the kill. Lee was probably a taijutsu expert from his moves, so he would require close quarter attack. As a result, the genin willingly allowed the five clones to surround him within range. A tactical advantage, but also very gullible.

The five clones took hold of Lee and shouted, "Bakuhatsu bunshin no jutsu!"

Realising what the jutsu meant, Lee squirmed away at the last moment but was still thrown to the wall, unconcious. A couple of ribs were cracked. Sasuke sighed. At least Lee had avoided death. Rukawa went to Lee and healed him, but only so that he would still ache with pains. After all, Lee was lucky enough to experience kindness from his enemies.

With the battle that lasted less than five seconds, much less five minutes, Team Seven went into the examination hall of the first test.

"Sasuke-kun! You're finally here!" Ino squealed and flung herself onto her crush. Sasuke stared at her approaching form and smirked. Sakura did a short string of handseals and put her chakra infused hand through him. Apparently a bunshin now, Sakura withdrew her hand to leave a memory mould in him. The chakra sparked and infused into Sasuke's bunshin.

Unknowingly, Ino hugged the bunshin. To her horror, her hands and one leg was stuck into Sasuke like a wasp trapped in poison. Ino looked up, hurt and betrayal etched in her face. "Sasuke? Sakura?"

Naruto stepped up, a serious expression on his face, evident maturity. "Ino, we may be friends and former school mates. But we are officially on duty. As chuunin contenders, we are like enemies. Sorry for this, but…"

"…it's a wake-up call from us," Rukawa finished. He knew that even though Naruto had changed, the rest of the rookie genins would not know, so, if he finished the sentence all by himself, they would feel insulted and hate Naruto even more. Sasuke and Sakura released their genjutsus to free Ino, then stepped away. Even Kiba, who had wanted to confront Sasuke, backed away hestitantly. Shikamaru frowned. If anything, this was not the Team Seven which he had known. Even Naruto had changed. If anything, he would have to avoid those four as much as possible.

"Now shut up all you spangy waggled mongrels! Shut up! You brats break it up now or we could disqualify you even before you prove yourself!"

Ibiki and a few other genins waggled a bit more before the written exam finally started. The room was covered with nothing but a hush and the scratching of lead against paper.

Naruto, the number one loudmouth ninja, was reduced to a quivering pulp.

_Question one… Question two…Question three…Question four…Question five…Question six… Question seven…Question eight…Question nine…Question ten… Shit, shit, shit! I don't know how to do a single one? How am I suppose to know how to describe the Kenri laws of Physics? I don't even know the fundamentals behind kunai throwing! _Naruto scratched his head and banged it against the table. Sasuke saw him from a few rows back and smirked. _Fat hope that will give you the answer, dead last. Tch. You really should listen to the loophole that Ibiki gave you, or at least one of Aniki's theory lessons. It's a wonder he didn't kill you. Anyway, it's up to Rukawa to save you now, though I don't know how he'll do it._

Bang. Naruto banged his head once against his paper.

Bang. Naruto banged his head twice against his paper.

Bang. Naruto banged his head thrice against his paper.

"Ahh!" Naruto screamed. The answers had appeared on his paper, written neatly in black ink!

Naruto pulled the paper to his face and stared at his paper. Behind him, genins took the opportunity to copy down the answers. Behind him, genins dropped like flies, thrown out by the chuunins.

_Ah, I You're a genius! _Rukawa had directed electricity to form over Naruto's table as the boy smashed his skull and powered it up in order to singe the paper. Crude, but unless closely scrutinized, the burnt paper would pass off as an inked essay.

On the tenth question, however, was a single, tiny word: _WAIT._

Ibiki looked as the last of the worms left the room. The Uzumaki and Kazuhiko guy had been impressive. Ibiki hadn't detected a trace from them. They seemed to be the only ones who just stared at the paper and the answers appeared there. A few genins had been able to answer the questions, which had been pretty dull.

The rest of the chuunins nodded at Ibiki, faces set. Ibiki replied with two nods and stood up and slammed his meaty palms onto the desk at the front of the class. Heads turned up at the scarred interrogator.

"So, most of the useless fish have been eaten. Let's get on to the tenth question. I'm sure that all of you have been smart enough to realise what this means? In anycase, let's get down to it. I've added new rules to this last question. You have two options to choose from. One, have the oppurtinity to become a chuunin this time by taking the question. If you get it wrong, however, we will ban you from ever taking a chuunin exam. Two, you don't take this question and wait for the next round."

The room immediately went into chaos. One leaf genin even piped up the chaos to retort, "But some of us here have gone for fifteen exams for this! To add one more to the long list, that's unfair!"

A chuunin named Taiji stepped up and caught the kunoichi by the nape of her neck. "Fifteen times? Then surely a weakling like you wouldn't mind waiting for another six months? It's normal, after all, to retake the chuunin exams. After all, only an average of five are let in each year. What makes you think that you're good enough. Why not leave?"

The kunoichi was unable to suck in her ego and left the room. Her team mates had not choice but to follow her out of the room.

"So," Ibiki shouted. "Who else has the courage to leave?"

With that, more than half the room left. The rookie genin ShikiInoChou team and Kiba's left too. They had decided, as fresh ninjas, that they weren't ready to let go of their potentials. Now, only fifty teams were left.

Ibiki glanced at the other chuunins. They were smiling and nodding their heads. The genins in front of him were prepared and were determined to pass. "I see, so you midgets want the chuunin rank so badly? Well, you guys… pass!"

Silence sunk into the room like an explosion. Even Gaara's sand stopped scratching in his gourd.

Naruto was unable to hold in his confusion. "What? What are you talking about, Ibiki-san? You mean that was the tenth question?"

"Yes. The initial plan was a normal paper with the normal rules, no room for cheating. But you guys have been really unlucky to be with me. Like I said, act like the shinobis and kunoichis you should be! The only step I turned up is that all of you have to answer all questions correctly. All of them."

"What do you mean? If I'm getting what you mean, then isn't taking the tenth question enough?" Naruto turned around. A suna kunoichi who was around fifteen years old had stood up.

"What do you mean you got what I said, girl? Do you even know what I'm implying? I'm basing this simple test on normal chuunin recons. You'll need to know everything about your enemy. If your methods are lousy, any ninja will catch you and kill you. Then, what would you do for your team other then to have them dig your grave? Also, if the information is inaccurate, you could get your fellow comrades killed. That's why I implemented the highest point system. This means that all sixty teams of you have gotten totally correct answers and have the least point deductions," Ibiki said smugly.

His lips curved into a smile as he took off the cloth covering his head. The baldness revealed screw holes, burns, slashes and many other torture scars. The room gasped. Ibiki sneered then continued, "I got the idea of this test from this experience you can see right here. There's no room for you to foul up. That's all I have to teach you genins. As for your second test…"

The window smashed open, glass shards flying through the air. The genins squealed. The chuunins sweated. Ibiki nearly fell over. Two kunais with black cloth tied to their rings struck the ceiling. The black banner unfurled to reveal red paint on its majestic face. Special jounin Mitarashi Anko came out shouting, "Now is not the time to be happy, lubheads! I will be your examiner for the second test… Mitarashi Anko! So! Follow me!"

The whole room sweat-dropped.

Anko turned to Ibiki and sneered, "Sixty teams? How easy is this test? In anycase," she raised her voice so that everyone could hear her. "I will make sure that _more_ than half of you will be going home with your butts totally kicked! Muahaha!"

Sakura gasped. _Less than half?_

Anko took out a note from her breast pocket and handed it to Ibiki. The man took it and read it silently. Ibiki looked at Anko and murmured, "One man only…?"

Anko turned away, "Yeah. Wonder what's Itachi playing at."

This time it was Ibiki's turn to raise his voice. "Kazuhiko Rukawa from Hidden Leaf!"

"Hai!" Rukawa stood up.

"Meet outside now."

Team Seven exchanged glances as Rukawa went out of the room.

Ibiki passed the letter to Rukawa. The boy scanned through it quickly. Ibiki took the boy by the shoulders and said, "Apparently, we have to go by the rules. You have two options. One, is to go solo but endanger your life. Two, to stick with your team. But there will be political issues."

Rukawa shrugged and stepped away. "I'll pick choice one. I think that I'm ready to take any chuunin test; Itachi-sensei thinks so."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That means we're officially opponents until the end of this test?" Sasuke asked. Rukawa confirmed and turned in his clicking device.

"After all, no one would have this," Rukawa reasoned when Naruto piped up. After that, Rukawa went into the tent, handed in his contract form, and took the scroll. It was an Earth scroll.

Silently, Rukawa went to gate sixteen. After thirty-four minutes, a whistle resounded throughout the forest. The chuunin official unlocked the gate. Rukawa stepped into the forest and waited for the official to lock the door and walk away before he sniffed the air and felt the ground with his fingers.

Aikawa Kazuya took ten steps forward before bounding forward. There were five viable teams to pick and kill. _Mitarashi said that we only needed one set. That's true. But if I eliminate as many teams as I can in this round, I should be able to increase my chances of becoming chuunin. That's the only thing that matters now. One team is heading my way now. Time to lay a few traps…_

Gaiza raised his fist. His teammates stopped running.

"We're near someone," Gaiza said. His teammates nodded in reply and the approached their target with caution. Gaiza looked at the floor and sniggered. A wire was drawn taut, each end tied to trees. His teammates followed his sight line and sneered too. Confident, Gaiza stepped over the wire carefully. A bell sounded softly behind them.

"What-?" Gaiza shouted. Suddenly, three kunai was embedded in his neck artery, forehead, and heart. His teammates stepped back in shock.

Kazuya raced forward. He swung a fist into one ninja, then kicked the other away. The men gasped out blood and flew five feet away, slamming into the trees. Kazuya created a bunshin, and each followed one ninja and killed them with a kunai. Kazuya made his kage bunshin disappear and wiped the blood off his knife with the body that lay dead in front of him.

He had used a simple wire trap. With a wire in the shadow of the other, mediocre ninjas like Gaiza would have thought that it was just the shadow of the wire. Kazuya ripped the scroll from Gaiza's pouch and smiled. A Heaven's scroll.

"Not bad, Kazuhiko. But, it was stupid for your team to split into individual scouts. Now it's three versus one," someone said behind him. Rukawa slid the scroll into his pouch quickly and held up his kunai, pivoting around.

"So, Neji-sempai, don't bother me now if you don't want to die," Kazuya said. _Konoha genin. I know their level, unlike the foreign teams. Even if these guys pass, I'll still be able to defeat them. So, I only need to steal their scrolls or leave._

"Those are big words, Kazuhiko-kun," Lee said. "Didn't the Uchiha say that you're the top genin? Well, Hyyuga Neji, in my opinion, is the best genin."

"Oh really?" Kazuya drew four shuriken from his holster, doing a few single-handed seals when he did so. The genin didn't even know that his fingers had moved. "Then tell me, how come the supposed best genin hallucinates?"

Neji frowned. "Nani?"

Kazuya smirked, then dissolved into thin air.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kazuya glanced at the sun. _Thirty minutes have passed. _

He could hear screams ring throughout the woods, a hear flashes of chakra residue. And yet, he was calm. This was all a game, and a very easy one. Even Itachi's training was much more nerve wrecking than this. He could kill the genin as easily as he could to a fly.

Suddenly, a large signature of chakra registered in the woods. Kazuya felt a familiar feeling. It was a disgusting one.

Orochimaru.

Rukawa frowned. He had noticed the S-ranked criminal earlier, but he had not expected the Sannin to reveal himself.

He had met Orochimaru a year before the Uchiha massacre. The man had tried to seduce Shisui to no avail. This was also the time when Shisui had learnt of the Akatsuki. At his current age, Rukawa did not have the chakra store to match Orochimaru's. Perhaps he would act indifferently according to the situation.

Activating his Sharingan, Rukawa swung from one branch to another.

Sakura screamed as the three snakes bit into her arms and pinned her to the tree. Blood oozed from their fangs, but Sakura could feel the venom creeping through her veins. It was a decomposing feeling, as if the soul in her arms were fading.

Orochimaru smirked and finished the jutsu. The three black pythons broke from under his long sleeve and started to suck on Sakura's blood slowly. As cool as ice, Orochimaru looked at Sasuke, as if daring him to save Sakura.

And so he did. Sasuke released a Grand Fireball at the fifty year old maniac and dashed for Sakura, moving as fast as he could. His Sharingan was already on, and Sasuke knew that Orochimaru had dodged his attack. The Sannin halted Sasuke and kicked the boy away from his damsel.

Sasuke blocked it and twisted over Orochimaru, delivering a blow to the man's head. Orochimaru merely snatched his wrists from mid air and slammed him into the ground classic body slam style. Sasuke bent his knees at the last moment so that he would land on his feet. Wincing at the pain, Sasuke used all his strength to turn the tables and slam Orochimaru to the ground. The Sannin let go of Sasuke's wrists and landed on the ground perfectly.

Sasuke attached exploding notes to a fan of kunai quickly, then headed for Orochimaru directly. He hurled them at Orochimaru's possible destinations, but also planned that the daggers would surround Orochimaru tightly.

BOOM.

Those had been expensive exploding notes. There was no way that the creep would have surround that nine-tiered attack. Not unless the creep was merely a clone.

Sasuke spun around and blocked Orochimaru's roundhouse kick. Sasuke then flipped ten feet back and shouted, "Katon! Housenka no jutsu!"

Balls of flame shot from his mouth at Orochimaru. Even with his seasoned reflexes and silky movements, Orochimaru was burnt by one small ball of fire. As the Sannin stumbled, Sasuke immediately spun around and ran at Sakura again.

If he did not pull out the snakes quick enough, she might die even quicker. _Where is Naruto when I need him? Possibly pissing as usual. Uzumaki!_

Lashing out, Sasuke ripped the snakes off Sakura through their throats and pivoted around, catching poisoned shuriken with their long bodies. Orochimaru got up and charged at Sasuke.

Frantically, Sasuke did a long set of handseals before shouting, "Doton! Gate's spikes no justu!"

Stalagmites of compact earth shot from the ground. One spike cut Orochimaru's sleeve before he flipped into the air. Orochimaru did a few hand seals and three snake jaws shot from his sleeve.

Sasuke hurriedly picked up Sakura and dashed away just as the bones smashed into the place where they had just been. Sasuke's eyes trained at the air borne Orochimaru. _Now would be a good time to attack…_

Suddenly, Naruto appeared and kicked Orochimaru in the jaw. The man's head snapped up and flew into one of the trees. Naruto did more flips in the air so that he landed on the branch that Sasuke and Sakura was on. Sasuke said worriedly, "She got poisoned. I need to get the poison out. Even though she's lost some blood, I think blood replenishing pills should do the trick. Naruto, be careful of the guy. He's Orochimaru, one of the former Sannin. He's the kage of Sound Vilage, or so Aniki told me. Be careful."

Naruto nodded and faced Orochimaru. _Just to buy Sakura and Sasuke some time, even if it costs me my life!_

Orochimaru had gotten up lazily. He had eyed Naruto's whiskers with precaution. Uchiha Sasuke had called the blond "Naruto". The slitted, amber eyes the glared at him confirmed his suspiscions. That was the Kyuubi Jinchuukri. _Things have just gotten harder. If I kill or maim him, the Akatsuki will surely be after me. But they obstructed my plans to get Uchiha Shisui. Let's see… I'll make things difficult for them. Heh heh._

"Kuchiyose no jutsu…!" Naruto bounced off the great snake that Orochimaru had summoned. Afterwards, before he could even react, the snake's tail swished with such speed he would never would have connected with the giant that it was. He was bashed from all four sides then swung into branches towards the ground. As he slammed through the trees he felt his ribs bruise and he finally stopped at one branch. Three ribs were broken, and he was coughing blood. If anything, the battle had not lasted any longer than Sasuke and Rock Lee's had.

Naruto cursed and tried to get up, but the pain in his chest was explosive. Whenever he heaved, more blood would flow from his lips.

Sasuke was dying to help his team mate, but Sakura was so close to the point of death that he just could not leave. He could only watch as Orochimaru advanced on the helpless Naruto.

Orochimaru worked his way through the seals comfortably as he walked towards the Kyuubi vessel. It had been a long time since he was able to do hand seals at such a slow rate. Naruto was already unconcious, as was the pink haired kunoichi.

"Orochimaru-san. Don't move."

Orochimaru froze. That voice was vaguely familiar. It sent alarm bells sparking through his head. Orochimaru sweated nervously as he tried to sneer. "Aikawa Kazuya. What a place to meet you. Shouldn't you be pass ANBU by now? Maybe even a S-ranked criminal like Uchiha Shisui, Kazuya-kun?"

"Your faked confidence is amusing, Orochimaru-_sama_," Rukawa said irritatably. He currently had a katana to Orochimaru's neck in a deadlock. His bunshin had already stepped in front of Orochimaru with his katana pointed at the man's heart. Rukawa continued, "Hn. You're slipping, Orochimaru. I have you here right now in my hands. As a konoha ninja, I've every right and duty to arrest you."

"No, not exactly. You see, Rukawa, I'm more commonly known as kage of the Sound. Harming a important diplomat will only earn you a death penalty."

Rukawa frowned. If anything, even Orochimaru's Doton clone was as disgusting as its creator was. With one swift motion, Rukawa and his bunshin stabbed the clone, rendering it to mud.

The real Orochimaru appeared in front of Rukawa a few metres away. The man smirked once before announcing coldly, "That's an assasination attempt on your list, Rukawa-kun."

Rukawa merely retorted, shoving his hands into his pockets, doing near invisible one-handed seals in the process. "Well, well, kage-sama. For your information, You are not only registered as the kage of the Sound village, but in our records, the priority of you being an S-ranked criminal, missing-nin, is far greater. According to the council's calculations, it's seventy nine percent more. Since the percentage difference is more than half, Orochimaru, you should know that I've no qualms about killing you right now."

The smirk disappeared from Orochimaru's face, replaced by true washes of anger and fear. He said, "Kazuhiko Rukawa, or more importantly, Aikawa Kazuya. The Sound has established firm relations with the Suna ninja. Furthermore, don't you want to know why I'm here?"

"Sure I do. But analysing your vision, I can hazard a few guesses. Anyway, what's a dead man's reasons? Furthermore, Konoha can handle the Suna ninjas. Even though we have been a peaceful village for some time, we are still the strongest force. The Suna's power has declined ever since the daiymo Ryota came. With you gone, the Sound will need to reconsider certain things."

Rukawa unsheathed his right hand from his pocket and clamped it around Orochimaru's neck. The Sannin had reached forward with his long neck, aiming to bite the boy. Instead, Rukawa had moved away at the last second to grasp his jugular muscles. Rukawa's hand was fizzling with chakra-created electricity. With high-powered volts circulating in one small section of nerve clusters, Orochimaru screamed and retracted it immediately. Most of his neck was now numb and many nerves were in overload. In fact, his neck was still a foot longer than normal. Orochimaru had to power massive amounts of chakra to ease his pain, keep conciousness, and stop his stretched neck from breaking. If there was no chakra powered into his now unnaturally long neck, his bones, unfamiliar with the length, would snap.

Rukawa put down his hand and stared at Orochimaru, head tilted sideways. "Sasuke, Orochimaru is now your job. Kill him if you can, but be extremely wary and don't die nor get injured. I'll help Naruto and Sakura. After that, no more chances from me."

Sasuke nodded and left his frozen position. He had been so engrossed with Rukawa's and Orochimaru's short exchange that he had totally forgotten that Naruto and Sakura existed. His boots smacked the floor, crunching gravel as he ran at Orochimaru, noting that Orochimaru was gauging his timing, his eyes darkened. It was all according to plan. In the last few metres, Sasuke activated his Sharingan suddenly and powered chakra to his feet. Orochimaru had become use to the tandem of crunching gravel and slapping boots that the sudden disappearance of Sasuke's sound and body surprised him. The neck strain and depleting chakra was indeed affecting him badly.

Sasuke rounded behind Orochimaru and lightly tapped the Sannin's back, sticking on a large explosive note. Sasuke then appeared back on Orochimaru's front. He dished out a kick, but Orochimaru had used one of his forbidden techniques and a sword sprung from his mouth. Sasuke was forced to twist away and jump back. Orochimaur's thing sword nicked his calf, and Sasuke grimaced in pain. _Nevermind that, just concentrate on getting away._

By now, Orochimaru had taken off the explosive note and had flund it five metres from his person when the note exploded. Orochimaru cried out as his body suffered first, second, and third degree burns and a fracture as he was slammed into a tree. Sasuke had caught a bit of the blast, but he was merely roughed up.

Orochimaru's eyes slanted angrily and remorsefully.

Sasuke took no time triumphanting on such a trivial victory. He followed his explosive attack with the three Uchiha knives and curve-bladed kunai. Bristling, Orochimaru could only twist and turn his battered form from the knives. _Even with the Sharingan… his skills are still mediocre compared to mine. But his potential… is limitless._

The next move was unexpected. As the knives soared behind him, Orochimaru was thinking of a counter-attack when the skin of his left elbow was grazed by a thin object. _Wires tied to the knives!_ Orochimaru turned back but it was too late. His body was strapped to the tree with complicatedly twisted wires, and he was pinned by Sasuke's Fuuma Shuriken in his right shoulder. Pain and blood erupted, but it was uncomparable by Orochimaru's fear and anger, the only two things that had fueled his entire life.

Sasuke quickly did the only set of one-handed seals he knew and brought it to his lips, his teeth clenching a wire that connected him to the Fuuma Shuriken that punctured Orochimaru's shoulder. "Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

A long beam of fire travelled down the wire straight into Orochimaru, upgrading the burns by two levels.

Sasuke panted slightly and released his mouth hold on the wire. He looked up, expecting to see Orochimaru's burnt corpse. Instead, he saw muddy earth drip down to the ground. It was totally unexpected. Out of pure instinct, Sasuke turned around…

Orochimaru bit hard into Sasuke's neck. He was standing a foot from Sasuke, as far as his neck would go. Satisfaction filled him as his fangs dug deep into Sasuke's neck. The only odd thing was, Sasuke tasted like black gold.

The "Sasuke" Orochimaru had bitten into was actually an explosive plastered bit of log with fuel doused onto it. In fact, due to his genjutsu, Orochimaru's head sunk into Sasuke's log, which exploded promptly.

Sasuke looked at the remnants of Orochimaru, then returned to Naruto and Sakura's side. Rukawa had healed their critical wounds. They were, however, still unconcious. Sasuke turned to Rukawa, searching the younger boy's eyes. Rukawa broke their locked gazes, and stood up. "Sasuke, I think I'll go now."

"Okay."

Rukawa turned to leap off, when Sasuke called his name. Rukawa stopped, thinking.

Sasuke said, "Rukawa. When the chuunin exam ends… I plan to hold a Team Seven meeting."

Rukawa chuckled, catching the hidden meaning, and said instead, "What? Team bonding? Okay."

Sasuke sat there for a moment, wondering, _Did he see through what I wanted? I think so. But I knew no better way to approach him like that. And I think he understands that as a team, we all owe each other accountability. Of course, not only him, but Sakura, Naruto and me too. I just hopes… he won't mind._

The chuunins stared through the many monitors rigged to the various CCTVs. They were all wide awake and excited. After all, a Suna team broke the record of coming withing an hour and thirty-seven minutes!

An hour later, with no sign of another team, the chuunins were still observing their screens, holding their breaths. Furutaka stared at his screen. He was viewing the third entrance gate. The formica tiles, cement pillars, Furutaka was ready to punch the screen. Unlike his fellow members, his recipient was a solo member, some special kid who was the odd one out. The boy was unlikely to make it early.

Kazuhiko Rukawa walked into the screen…

Furutaka the Chuunin official squealed excitedly…

The rest of the Chuunin rushed from their seats to observe the monitor. They looked as the boy scanned the parchment on the wall. The watched as he opened both scrolls. They followed as he flung both at the floor. They saw.

As for Rukawa, oblivious to all the excitement he had gained from the simple action of opening the door and walking in, looked lazily as Furutaka appeared.

_Was that a goofy look I just saw? Does he look as if he wants to hug me? Have I reached the realm of insanity? _Rukawa thought as he decided that a Chuunin could not possibly reveal such emotions.

He listened to Furutaka's serious babble, just in case it was another Ibiki scam. After the nineteenth minute, he tuned out. It was nothing but memorised crap, and it sounded exactly like a teaser trailer of a Sarutobi Sandaime Speech. The killer Ss. Five minutes later, Furutaka closed his long speech by showing his pocket watch to Rukawa, announced his timing, before almost grabbing Rukawa in a hug.

The Chuunins up in the watch room watched as Rukawa almost obliviously but actually intentionally side step Furutaka and walk out of the landing.

_I'm second? Even though I helped Sasuke and the rest of them? Weird_, Rukawa thought as he sat in his waiting room.

The tower was a large building, so each team was assigned a waiting room to rest. The Genins were not allowed to leave the building within this timeframe, so accomidities were provided. There were a number of tunics folded neatly on the counter at the right. Rukawa changed into one of them, putting his own clothing into the washing machine. Packets of Instant Ramen and Quick Bento were on another table, with a microwave machine next to it. There was a toilet and a bed. The only form of entertainment to pass the next four and a half days was a single window and a pair of powerful binoculars and a telescope. Rukawa smiled at them, _the perfect opportunity to gauge the strength of the other teams and maybe copy some with my Sharingan. At least it's a plus side of coming early. The downside, is that Anko supervised our accomadation… the bare essentials. Damn…_

Rukawa then cooked himself a packet of Quick Bento and ate the mini tempura first. He sat on the bed, chewing his food lazily. He thought about what Sasuke had said. It was evident that Sasuke was curious about his past, and was hestitant about trusting him. True, they had lived together for years, but Sasuke had matured, and he was suspicious about their first encounter now. During the mission with Tazuna the bridge builder, he had done nothing to prove that he could be trusted. It was almost funny how Naruto, who knew the least about him out of Team Seven, was the teammate that trusted him the most. As for Sakura, she still needed a few kunoichi mentalities trained into her. With Itachi's training, she could become as skilled as Sasuke, or even better if Rukawa continued at the slow pace he was doing for Sasuke. So far, she was still an accessory to Rukawa, having next to zero bonding with her, most of them were spent on Sasuke.

Still, I hope I can come clean with him.

Setting a few traps so that he could sleep peacefully, Rukawa fell on the bed, and slept. _Perhaps Anko's border policy has another plus side…_

A/N: 16 pages… whoa. It was pretty hard to keep focused on trying to establish Rukawa's character and his relationship with the others, but I think I've managed it!

I'll be updating more since the next week is a sabbatical week in school, which is like school with no work!

After that, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura's highest potential hasn't had much footage yet, but during the prelims and third exam, I will definitely try! And hopefully I'll improve the descriptors of the fights. Puches and kicks can only be so descriptive… one inch?

Review! Please! Review!


	7. Chapter Six Clashing Metal

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but thanks to Masashi Kishimoto, the story is how it is now. 

I'd like to thank the overwhelming number of people who read my story! And I'd like to thank the people who favourited, alerted, and most of all, reviewed my work! Thank you!

Thank you to the following people: **Kisses.In.The.Rain, itachiuchihaaismine, and Cornett** for reviewing this fan fiction. It's a real thrill to know what people think of your work, so please review!

Chapter Six 

There were six teams or thirteen people left. There was one Sand team, four Leaf teams, and one Lightning team.

Mitarashi Anko felt like eating her red bean cakes forever. Out of the sixty teams that had participated in the legendary Forest of Death, only six had survived. It was another hit on Morino Ibiki.

Then, the Third Hokage stepped in front of the genin. He puffed his puffy pipe, introduced his famous name, and spoke for an hour about the whole meaning about the Chuunin exams.

_Basically, _Sasuke thought to himself, _the Chuunin exams is just to flame one another. How long did I take to think this? Less than five seconds. Old man, shut up and go away._

Thankfully, to everyones, including the calm and mighty Gaara, relief, a Jounin with baggy eyes hopped in front of the Hokage. Coughing, he got up and said, "Hokage-sama, I think I can take it from now. So, since the Chuunin Exams is so important, we have invited many important representatives from many countries. Daimyos, Hokages, Samurai… and villagers from many places all over the Ninja world. As a result, we have decided to hold a preliminary exam. In one month's time, after we have sheared away those not so qualified for the third and final round, we expect the best out of everyone. That aside, we will have one round of fighting for everyone. I'll try to prevent the number of deaths. I will decide the winner, my decision is final, and please don't continue to fight. You can surrender at anytime. Obviously, the winners go to the final round. Before we begin, who would like to surrender?"

Naruto watched in disgust as two Konoha ninjas, one a shinobi named Kabuto left the arena. _Cowards... bunch of maggots that can't be loyal to Konoha… _The baggy eyed, coughing Jounin waited for a bit more before announcing, "Okay, so for the first round, please look at the electronic tag board above."

Names scrolled quickly for ten seconds, before…

"Uchiha Sasuke and Okita Soujirou, please step forward. The rest of the contestants and their mentors, please make your way to the second level," the Jounin said.

Sasuke stepped up to face the Rai genin. Itachi was passing Sasuke when he stopped. In a low voice, he asked, "Did Orochimaru bite you?"

"So that's what he was called? He tried, but I escaped. Luckily, Rukawa came when I was sure to die. But, why did he want from me? Aniki!" Sasuke got increasingly agitated. Itachi laid a hand on his shoulder and said, "We'll get to this later. Concentrate on this match first."

Sasuke nodded and turned to Okita Soujirou, who had a long katana drawn and hanging at his side. The genin was smiling, and he was dressed in loose, light blue robes. Sasuke hardly smiled back, but thought up of a few battle plans.

"Ready?"

Both parties nodded. The Jounin coughed one then flipped backwards, saying, "Then, begin!"

Okita smiled warmly once more before his entire expression changed to a blood lusted, maniacal charge. Sasuke was about to release his killer intent when the boy had suddenly charged.

_This guy is fast! _Sasuke thought as the katana barely missed his neck. Following up on his attack, Okita used his forward momentum to sidekick Sasuke, before spinning around and slashing his arm. Sasuke skidded back hard. Sasuke flipped back as fast as he could, before dodging Okita's scissors kick by leaping high into the air. Sasuke turned onto Okita and shouted, "Katon! Gokakyuu no jutsu!"

A brilliant burst of flame erupted from his mouth, and Sasuke watched with satisfaction as Okita was caught in the legendary Uchiha technique. The Chuunin officials and Jounins looked with heightened interest. Usually, only Jounins or Chuunin could master such a technique, but Sasuke had managed it at such a young age with such ferocity. He was no doubt Uchiha Itachi's younger brother.

Sasuke had reached the climax of his leap when his eyes widened in shock. Okita had protected himself by slashing his katana around him so fast that it waved the fire away from him. Once he had cleared a path, Okita leapt into the air with his inhumane speed. Sasuke was gauging the shinobi's speed when Okita suddenly sped up in mid air. Within that fraction, Okita was already in his face, smirking crazily, and stabbed him straight in the heart. Sasuke coughed blood before grabbing onto Okita's sword. "A clone that bleeds… Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Realizing that he had been foiled, Okita released his katana and did a few seals.

_Goat. Snake. Tiger. Rat. Goat. Monkey. _"Ghost Dance no jutsu!"

A memory imprint, like a shadow in full colour, just dimmer, of Okita separated from the shinobi, flipping away before landing, chakra-suctioned on the opposite wall. The body of Okita was blasted away just like Sasuke's clone.

Itachi frowned as the Okita Soujirou residue morphed into the person himself. It was a powerful jutsu, but he suspected that a lot of chakra had been sheared off. From the way he was panting, Okita Soujirou had used up too much chakra, and did not have excellent control. Sasuke was crouching on the wall opposite Soujirou, doing a few seals.

Okita leapt off the wall, screaming at Sasuke, another katana already unsheathed. Sasuke released multiple fireballs at Okita, who dodged out of the way. Sasuke charged at Okita, propelling himself at the shinobi. Three-quarters spent, Sasuke released a fan of shuriken at Okita, who deflected them with his katana. Landing behind Okita, Sasuke ducked Okita's lunge at him. It had been a mistake, for Okita had misjudged the power of his lunge, and he fell forward.

_Time to use something I've seen Itachi do…_ Sasuke smirked as he dealt a powerful mule kick to Okita.

Itachi raised his eyebrows slightly as Okita Soujirou surged into the air, dropping his katana. Sasuke leapt after Okita, locking onto him with the Shadow Leaf Dance.

_Time to use something totally of my own…_

Sasuke feinted to left, before flipping around and kicking Okita down. Turning another round, Sasuke punched Okita solidly in the gut. Just before Okita connected with the ground, Sasuke spun around powerfully and slammed Okita into the ground with his heel. As he did so, he shouted, "Shi Shi Rendan! (Lion Combo!)"

Sasuke bounced off his heel, and wobbled away shakily, his leg muscles palpitating. The Jounin checked Okita's situation before announcing, "Winner! Uchiha Sasuke of Konoha!"

Naruto shouted for joy and Sakura laughed elatedly. Itachi smiled and patted Rukawa's back. "Hey, the results of your training. Congrats."

"Heh Heh. Nothing I couldn't do," Rukawa grinned.

Naruto leapt off the railing to congratulate Sasuke excitedly, "Sasuke! You dumbass! I almost thought he killed you!"

"Dobe, do you really think I would lose before I fight you?" Sasuke grinned at Naruto, who was stunned.

Naruto grinned back as Itachi took Sasuke out.

Sasuke was unable to contain his worry when they reached the roof of the building. "Aniki! Why the heck did that snake guy Orochimaru want to do with me? Tell me! And what did he mean about Rukawa? Who the heck is Kazuya? Why did he try to bite me?"

Itachi embraced Sasuke and replied, "Orochimaru betrayed Konoha years ago. I exchanged blows with him before. I could have killed him, but at that time I wasn't strong enough to carry out any attack. I've researched on him, so I know a couple of things. He has a warped ambition of learning all the jutsus in the world, becoming what he thinks is the most powerful ninja. He has two options, to gain eternal life or the Sharingan. He has this body possessing technique, and he has supposedly invented a near everlasting life technique. He tried to get Shisui's and my Sharingan. Since he can't, he's probably coming for you.

"Sasuke, at your current level, I know you know the difference in your skills. So, the next time you face Orochimaru, run, hide, and save yourself and your comrades."

"What?" Sasuke shouted. It was abominable to the values that Itachi had been trying to teach him. It was abominable to his clan's pride.

Itachi only hugged him tighter. "Orochimaru is a powerful vermin who you can't beat at your current level. Run, just run. Promise me this."

Finally returning Itachi's embrace, Sasuke said softly, "Okay."

They stood on the roof for a bit longer before Itachi pulled away first. They sat on the ledge, hearing battles carry on below as time stopped for that moment. Itachi said, "It's been… a long time since we've ever done something like this."

"Yeah."

"As for your second question, Rukawa will tell you when he's ready to."

Sasuke nodded as they sat looking at the stars, relieving himself of all worries. His older brother was sitting beside him, his only family, the only one who was protecting him now other than himself.

Once again, Itachi broke the moment. "It's Sakura's and Neji's fight now. Gousaki just announced it. Let's go."

They got up, and the two brothers disappeared through the door.

Sakura could not help but stare at Neji's Byakugan. The sight of the nerves creeped her out. The guy was one year her senior, with a advanced bloodline, and was last year's super rookie.

Lee was at a lost of whom to cheer for.

Itachi had put his team through a lot of pressure of all situations, but it was mainly team play, since he expected them to train on their own too. Sakura was the one who trained the least, but was an excellent team player.

"As much as I want to think better of Sakura, Neji will win," Itachi deadpanned to Naruto.

"What makes you so sure, Itachi-sensei? Don't you have any faith in her?"

"Of course I do, especially since I mentored her, I should know her skills the best. But during our AA-ranked mission, she gained the least battle experience, and the Hyuuga kid has many more years of fighting than she has, even if he only graduated a year earlier."

"But she could turn the tables. After all it's like what you said, you coached her," Sasuke noted. Rukawa stepped out with his arms folded. "Be more critical, Sasuke. The Hyuuga is faster, stronger, and better in many ways, and I doubt Sakura could seduce him even if she dared."

Rukawa looked over at Naruto and shrugged. "Ah well, but we could have some faith in her abilities… A forty-two percent chance."

Sakura made the first move. She threw kunai at Neji, who dodged them effortlessly. _What's she doing with academy-style starters? _Neji thought irritated. He let another kunai sail past before he went for Sakura.

POOF.

Neji's eyes widened as he caught the kunai he had just let pass turn into his opponent. Even with his blood limit, no one at genin or lowest-Chuunin level would have the reflex to react to a triple kick dealt at less than a foot from him or herself. Sakura flipped after her kicks, before doing a few seals. "Katon! Housenka no jutsu!"

Tiny fireballs went for Neji, but with her unpolished ninjutsu skill, they went slowly enough for Neji to let only one singe his sleeve.Neji smirked before slamming a palm into Sakura's side, before twisting her around and away into the wall. "Gentle fist!"

Sakura lay unmoving as Neji walked towards her. He looked at her with distaste and smugness. "This is what fate is. This was what that would happen… even if the real you was behind me!"

Sakura's Bunshin disappeared as Sakura swung at Neji with a kunai. Neji sidestepped her move and dealt another Gentle Fist to her other side.

Itachi closed his eyes. He had expected a better fight, but this was probably Neji's skill.

Sakura's mind churned as she skidded along the ground. _I still need to go on! I can't give up! Not after what I had achieved with those sound-nins! I won't disappoint Sasuke or Naruto this time!_

Using will that had detoriated over years of crushing on raven-haired boys, Sakura used her skidding action to flip herself up horizontally before landing vertically. "Katon! Gokakyuu no jutsu!"

A fireball not larger than a man's body sprung from her lips. Neji smirked and protected himself with a Gentle Fist move he knew he could afford. As he dispersed the fire, he was already advancing on Sakura quickly, before… "Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Because Sakura had a small chakra store, her ninjutsu displays were a small scale compared to what the rest of Team Seven could achieve effortlessly. With no difference, her Exploding Clone was merely enough to deal Neji a powerful punch to the stomach, which was enough for her.

Several moments before, even with one rib broken, Sakura managed to leap high in the air to rest on the ceiling, suctioned by chakra when Neji was concentrating on dispersing her Fireball technique. She had guessed that he had a limit to his "sight", so now was the time to use it. She had deployed many traps during the Sound-nin's attack and during their four day survival in the Forest of Death, so her reserves were much depleted. She could only settle for a simple trap Itachi had taught them. A trap consisting of a long wire, two kunai, and a few shuriken. It would be the last of her stock, not counting the fact that she had only one kunai left, and only eight shuriken's in her stock. But the wire, was long enough. Sakura had made one last prayer.

As Neji finished the last foot of her fireball technique, Sakura quickly attached and looped her wire, finishing the end with her only kunai. She attached four shuriken two feet from the kunai. From the way she tied her wires, the three shuriken would act as a weight manager for the middle shuriken, so that it would not cut the wire. Shurikens spun when they were thrown, so using only one shuriken to tangle up her final move would be a pure waste of resource. After adding her three shuriken to line up along the string, she finished the end of the wire by knotting her last shuriken and driving it deep into the ceiling. Finally, she stayed on the ceiling to watch.

Neji slammed into the wire, which was secured firmly in an L-shape by the kunai and makeshift kunai. The makeshift kunai was the twister since it was looser. Jerking out, the shuriken-kunai dug into Neji's back. Cursing in pain, Neji tried to pull away. His big mistake. At the pull action, the three shurikens lined along the wire reacted. They were like catapults, and spun into Neji's back and leg. He shouted again. By now, the wire had tightened around his body. Sakura then wrenched the shuriken from the ceiling and hurled it at Neji. It arced around his taut frame once before tightening, digging into his arm. Jumping down to the ground, Sakura took up the kunai and threw it at Neji's back.

"Kaiten!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow when Neji shouted thus. It was not a perfect Kaiten though. Neji spun slower than a true Kaiten, and instead of a chakra sphere, only a foot thick Kaiten appeared, framing his outline. Asserting chakra into his tenketsu points, Neji broke the wire and the shuriken shot from his body. The chakra even clotted his wounds. Neji caught the kunai that Sakura had thrown. He pivoted to face her before returning it at her in full force. Sakura, exhausted by her ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques, had the kunai lodged in her shoulder.

Naruto could only watch as Neji raced up to her flailing body, did a jab step to stop, before raising his arms, hands turned into fists with only his index and middle fingers straightened.

With amazing grace, Neji hit Sakura again and again, bruising her tenketsu points badly and sending her chakra in much confusion. After three seconds, Neji stepped away.

Sakura stood there bleeding for a moment more before Neji dropped all Hyuuga grace, bunched up his right fist, and slammed a punch straight into her stomach. Sakura yelled once and fell.

The coughing jounin observed Sakura for five seconds before announcing, "Shoushou! Hyuuga Neji! Medics, please hurry!"

Neji looked arrogantly at Sakura before smugly turning away. Naruto rushed to meet him at the top of the stairs.

"Hyuuga! You teme! She was already beaten. You didn't need to deal that last move!"

"What was done, was done, Uzumaki. I heard you are quite the idiot?" Neji retorted. "It was her destiny to lose to me, after all. Whether or not a punched her didn't change anything, but it loosed my anger, so on my whim, I punched her."

"You…!"

"Gonna hit me," Neji looked at Naruto coolly, clearly irritated. A welsh of cold made him step aside to look at the Suna shinobi Gaara. "What?"

Gaara glared at the both of them then turned away. _They do not have the blood that will satisfy the cravings of kaa-san. Their measly lives can be spared for later when Kaa-san wants it. Uzumaki Naruto… I have to eliminate his existence, and show him that I'm most important to exist._

Sasuke was forced to listen to Rock Lee's gibberish, "Waah! Sakura-chan's last move was pretty cool, but Neji looked through it. His Gentle Fist and Kaiten are remarkable, but unfortunately he does not have the burning fire of youth. The last punch he gave was very unsportsmanlike, Gai-sensei will reprimand him! I, the beautiful blue beast of Konoha, possess what he does not!"

"At least he is not air-headed, so, shut up," Sasuke said and walked away.

The tag board buzzed and beeped before it stopped at two names. A green illumination that contrasted greatly with the black screen read, 'Sabaku no Kankurou versus Naoto Sakumoto'.

Naruto shouldered Neji as he bypassed the genin and walked past the Suna ninjas, who were the closest to Lee and Team Seven. He shuddered as he felt the mummy on Kankurou's back giggle.

Rukawa regarded Naruto calmly as the blond complained about the Hyuuga genin. As usual, Rukawa smiled and replied all of Naruto's questions as best as he could. After a long while, including the Kankurou versus Sakumoto, Temari versus Tenten fights.

Rukawa regarded Sasuke calmly. "What doubts do you have about me? We've been living together for five years now, and yet you don't trust me. Is it because of my strength? The fact that I don't seem even close to Chuunin?"

Sasuke shook his head and explained, "No, not really anyway. If I did, I would be no better than my Uchiha predecessors. They were good clansmen, but failed to judge themselves. Aniki proved that. It's true that I don't really trust you anymore. You're always so distant, as if you're faking that friendly mask of yours…"

Sasuke stopped when Itachi shook his head behind Rukawa's shoulder. Rukawa himself was looking at the ground, his eyes shaded, downcast. Sasuke wondered if Rukawa knew that Itachi had stopped him, but realized his stupidity when he had said, "Sorry, Rukawa."

That was the giveaway. Sasuke could have kicked himself. The damage was done. Rukawa looked up again, his eyes sad. His voice was a calm, cold monotone. It could have been anger, but Sasuke knew it was more of shinobi reality. "Very well, Sasuke, I'll show you my ability, but how much I can reveal depends on the skill of my opponent. If he is weak, there is no point in going all out."

"Thanks, Rukawa," Sasuke said. "B-but… I phrased it wrongly. I trust that during missions, we're a team, and that like all of us, you will deliver your best. I've seen it during the fight on Tazuna's bridge. I-it's... it's just that Sakura, Naruto, and Aniki are easy to read. Aniki only because I've lived with him all my life. Still, that day when you came… I thought about it, and I-"

"Hey, no need to explain. Just drop it, okay? We're going to have a team meeting, you said that yourself."

The tag board beeped again. Rukawa stared at it for a while then leapt off the landing to land on the arena.

Itachi faced Sasuke. "Not very nicely put, ototo. I haven't seen him so angry like this."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Your apologies should be to him."

Rukawa faced down the orange haired ronin-ninja. The guy was shorter than him, but around fourteen. Unlike Okita Soujirou, Shinpachi Nagira used a short katana that was strapped to his back. From the way he was crouched, Rukawa could see that Shinpachi was not going to use his short sword anytime soon.

The jounin examiner shouted, "Begin!"

Rukawa took offensive, splitting into two persons then attacking Shinpachi at different directions. _You want to see me, Sasuke? Then I'll let you_, Kazuya thought. He let his kage Bunshin go two steps faster than him. Shinpachi decided to defend against the nearer shinobi. He performed a set of seals quickly, clapping his hands together. When he pulled his hands apart, he pulled a band of electricity, attached to his palms. When the Kazuya-clone reached him, Shinpachi faked to the right, pivoted to allow Kazuya pass him by a second, before putting the electric band over the shinobi's neck and slicing it cleanly.

The Bunshin disappeared along with Shinpachi's ninjutsu. Kazuya ran up to Shinpachi, disappeared by sliding under the person's leg, then turned around, hand crackling soundlessly with blue electricity, and put it through Shinpachi's heart, tearing the bloody muscle out. Shinpachi barely had time to live, but he had time to exchange himself with a log.

The heart Kazuya had torn out sprinkled into sawdust.

Shinpachi was standing metres from Kazuya at perfect attack and defending distance. His short sword was drawn, pulsing with yellow electricity. Kazuya drew his longest kunai and ran at Shinpachi. The ninja from Rai village split into three forms and attacked Kazuya simultaneously at perfect angles and timing. Kazuya dived under a swing and leapt over another. The true form of Shinpachi jabbed up at Kazuya's right shoulder, but Kazuya pushed it down.

Shinpachi smirked and shouted, "Spirit Sword no jutsu!"

The katana lengthened with almost opaque electricity and punched through Kazuya's side. Pain and blood screamed out of him. Kazuya grabbed hold of Shinpachi and with a puff of smoke, changed back to who he truly was… a wire. The metal thread danced around Shinpachi for a few moments, the end of it tied to Shinpachi's wrist where Kazuya's hand had grabbed it. Shinpachi barely had time to react when a sharp edge of the wire sliced his right wrist cleanly off, his katana clattering to earth. The rest of the wire bound him tightly, some parts sawing his bones.

Kazuya took little time to pick up the dropped sword and point it at Shinpachi's chest at about two feet away. "Surrender."

Shinpachi smirked as blood dripped from his mouth, "Never, you Konoha tonkachi."

"Very well," Kazuya's eyes brightened. "Spirit Sword no jutsu!"

Shinpachi's eyes widened as opaque electricity shot from his sword faster than he had ever done and punctured his most important muscle. Kazuya dropped his jutsu and pushed the sword into Shinpachi's chest and left it to drop with its dead wielder. Blood had erupted and splattered onto his fast and clothes, but it did not rattle him. He was immune to it already after the many missions he had done.

Kazuya appeared at Sasuke's side as the jounin examiner shouted, "Winner! Kazuhiko Rukawa!"

Sasuke looked at Kazuya in shock and fear as he saw the level-three Sharingan locked in on him. Then the Sharingan turned off, and the fear dripped away. The mantle of coldness dropped off and Rukawa had returned. Itachi called it schizophrenia, but it was not madness. It was a controlled personality. Business and non-business. The only reason why Aikawa Kazuya existed inside of him was because he had not found what Naruto had when Umino Iruka acknowledged him.

Sandaime Hokage quirked his eyebrows at Rukawa. It had been the most interesting Chuunin Preliminary Exam after Uchiha Itachi, the down factor that it lasted only thirty seconds. The boy was far too promising, far too immersed in the ninja arts to be called a genin, even if he was elite. From the little that he revealed, Sarutobi could only guess that the boy was at least high Chuunin. Perhaps he would arrange a talk with Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi.

Hokage chewed his pipe when the last of Itachi's subordinates was called to fight it out with another Rai ninja. It seemed that the males of his team had no luck with meeting a Suna or Konoha Nin.

Naruto whistled excitedly, took a running leap, and skid-landed on the ground. His opponent chose an even more melodramatic manner, flashing through hand seals so that an electric charge would send his feet slamming into the ground so hard that it crushed the stone slab slightly. The puff of smoke cleared, and the Lightning shinobi straightened up, his eyes leering at Naruto. A novice's call for a challenge. The Hokage and other jounin called him off the list of possible Chuunins.

"Begin!"

Sasuke, Rukawa, and Itachi had not spoken throughout Naruto's match. Sasuke's mind was ridden with guilt and was trying to come up with an apology. Itachi was thinking about his team's training during the one-month preparations. Rukawa was analyzing Naruto's skill.

"_You want me to train Naruto?"_

"_Yes. There will be a month's time for training before the third exam. I'm getting Kakashi for Sasuke. I'll train up Sakura. You can take on Naruto. You can do that, right?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Then, I want to see a Chuunin at the end of the one month."  
_

"_Of course, Itachi-sensei."_

"_By the way, thank you."_

Before the Chuunin Exams, Itachi had held back Rukawa after one of their meetings. It had been a particularly bad one, for Naruto had been a total disaster.

When Naruto had won, Rukawa had thought up of a training program.

The preliminary exams went smoothly, and there was Kankurou, Gaara, Temari, Neji, Rukawa, Sasuke, and Naruto left for the Third Exam. The arena was pretty thrashed up, and the Hokage had already estimated a cost of fifty thousand credits for cheap repairs. The candidates stood on the broken up slabs, the soles of their sandals smearing with blood with each step they took.

The Hokage gave another talk which lasted two hours, before they drew out numbers from the box to decide their opponents. Ibiki collected the data and filled the sheet of paper on his clipboard.

The opponents were as follows:

First Match- Kazuhiko Rukawa and Sabaku no Temari

Second Match- Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji

Third Match- Sabaku no Kankurou verses Kazuhiko Rukawa

Fourth Match- Uchiha Sasuke versus Sabaku no Gaara

To Cornett, the Chuunin Exam is a really tough examination, which is extremely hard to pass, as all the Chuunins and Jounins in the canon said. So, only a limited number of genins could get into the prelims, as a result, Sakura lost to Neji since I wanted him to be in the Chuunin Finals. But still, like the real world, examinations isn't the only way to pass, so somehow, she'll still get through, and they can take on more exciting missions. Since Itachi, the presumed genius by Konoha is their tutor, it will be quite natural that they are powerful, even as rookies.

After the Chuunin Exam, there will be less resemblance to Naruto, that I guarantee.

Most of all, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and please review!


	8. Chapter Seven Dango for the King

Disclaimer. I do not own Naruto. 

Sorry for this late update. Had tests which will continue the week after next. Please review!

Chapter Seven- Dango for the King 

Sasuke squinted down at Kakashi. It was a week after the Prelims, and it was only now that he would be training. "Kakashi, you're late…again."

"Gomen. I was lost in the trails of modern and past life."

"Close it."

"Okay. Let's start, shall we? I'll be improving you speed to surpass Rock Lee's and… teaching you a technique I invented."

Naruto respected and trusted Rukawa. He had realised that Rukawa was more skilled than he could imagine from their missions and from the fact that Itachi-sensei had posted him to be his trainer.

So, when Rukawa requested for him to be at the eight training field by seven the next day, he had no complaints, but was radically crazy.

He reached forty minutes earlier, but Rukawa was there already. He started training with an introductory talk.

"So, Naruto, from your match and previous missions, I have concluded that your stealth and speed sucks, your tatical approach and analysis is below average, and you jutsu arsenal is… pure horror. Also, you have the Kyuubi inside of you, which is a good advantage. You'll be able to train and learn faster due to you chakra size, but I will teach you how to tap into its power without losing control."

Naruto pouted but smiled. He was not afraid of any training, as long as he became stronger and did not disappoint Rukawa.

"Let's start. You'll stand between those two trees, with armed with only one kunai in each hand. You get to use chakra to power your moves and cover your scent and stuff, but other than that, nothing else. I'll blindfold myself and throw shuriken at you. Until you improve your speed and stealth drastically, I will be able to hit you easily."

It was a direct approach, but Naruto only had a month. So, he drew out two kunais and positioned between the two trees. Rukawa stood four metres from him, long strings of shuriken hanging from a long branch. Rukawa took out a small portion from one string, already a very large stack of shuriken. He was already blindfolded. He threw three shuriken at Naruto, who deflected it with kunai.

Locking onto Naruto's position from the sound, Rukawa increased the speed and power of his throws, and emptied string after string. Naruto started out badly, shuriken digging or slashing him. His footsteps and the flutter of his clothes were too loud, as were his deflects. At least, his concentration was way up, his stamina had increased, and he was faster. Naruto had also learnt to mask the sound of metal clashing and his scent with his chakra.

Rukawa collected all the shuriken together using chakra strings, then walked up to Naruto. "So, this will be your first healing lesson. Since you regenerate, you won't need healing jutsus. Concentrate on the times you've encountered Kyuubi and open that gate. Once you do, regenerate. If you don't complete this within ten seconds, you'll have to scale this tree using the chakra training a hundred times and do a hundred push-ups. Starting from now."

Naruto's eyes bugged out, but he concentrated immediately. Unfortunately, calming down and summoning his feelings took seven seconds, and he barely managed to Kyuubi when it was three seconds. So, he had to tire himself.

Rukawa gazed at the panting Naruto calmly and said after a second. "So, let's begin again. Heal yourself. Draw out Kyuubi's regenerative powers. No time limit, but make sure you get it and remember how to do it."

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on fear, desperation, and desolation. _Kyuubi! Kyuubi! KYUUBI!_

**What? You stinking brat! Shut you callings, you pea headed popinjay.**

Kyuubi! Regenerate me automatically from now on everytime I ask you to! In exchange, I'll let you teach me a few things. If you're a good fox, I'll even share my mind with you!

**Brat, don't talk to me, the kitsune demon, as if you are my master! I'm only doing this favour because I've been dead bored looking at bars and feeling what you always feel, dumb. And I'll teach you a few things, in your sleep. You're having training with the genius, right? So only your sleep will be free. But I better get some good bonuses!**

But I can't make you free. The Yondaime's seal is unbreakable unless I kill myself, which you'll die with me too.

I know, brat. You think I'm stupid? I, unlike you, wasn't born yesterday! 

_Okay. Now, lend me your powers!_

Rukawa nodded in approval as Naruto's wounds healed. He blindfolded his eyes again and they continued, Naruto learning to regenerate under five seconds. After eight days of nineteen hours of activeness, Naruto had managed elite chuunin-level stealth and high chuunin speed. Rukawa smiled at his determination, and congratulated him. He could now regenerate easily, Kyuubi having agreed to regenerate automatically. Also, Naruto's personal chakra and stamina had increased, and so had his kunai skills.

Also, he could scale trees and walls and water of any friction level with heavy weights on easily as he could on ground, making his chakra control near elite chuunin perfect.

As a result, Rukawa felt he could spare twenty four hours, so, he said to Naruto, "I'll give you the whole day with Kyuubi. Make sure its useful. After that, I'll teach you a lot more."

Naruto nodded, smiling but tired. He had improved so tremendously that it had shocked him, he could feel the change had contrasted greatly with his skill eight days back. In fact, the wind seemed slower and his senses were now super reactive. He could feel that he was close to his dream of becoming Hokage. In fact, he had even learned not to scream, show-off, or shout war cries.

When he had six hours of sleep, he spent time in the dungeons of Kyuubi. After five days, he had finally managed to travel easily to the dank Kyuubi dungeons with his mind and that a chakra residue of Kyuubi could roam freely with Naruto. The Kyuubi had become so hot tempered that he was tempted to just kill himself, but Naruto finally appeased him. On the sixth day, he said to Naruto, **"Brat, I'm now expanding each minute to around ten, so that you will learn more, having that tiny brain of yours. Now, I'll teach you genjutsu and maybe some seals if your human illusions satisfy me."**

Eighteen hours was a lot of minutes, so Naruto managed Kyuubi's first genjutsu lesson, recognizing and dispelling genjutsus. He even managed to do a simple illusion that would have dwarfed Kurenai's illusions. Kurenai relied on individual genjutsu, which though was powerful in its own sense, was really weak against ninjas better than the individual. So, Kyuubi taught him surroundings genjutsu, deciding that two hours in his time could be set aside for advanced individual illusions. So far, Naruto had managed the first stages of performing genjutsus, and the Kyuubi's patience was thin.

Of course, when he had learnt of the twenty-four hour time, the Kyuubi was excited. He was totally prepared to make a human's life total hell, even if it was only one.

Naruto stared up at the Kyuubi defiantly. Actually, he was staring at a thousand mini kyuubis, all radiating killing intent that Sasuke could have managed. Suddenly, the kyuubis lunged at him, turning into flaming forms of searing chakra. Naruto was pillaged by ten kyuubis when he finally got the concentration to dispel the genjutsu.

He returned to the harsh light of the sewers.

"**Weakling. Brat, you really are a pathetic weakling."**

"Shut up, fox! It's really hard to concentrate with a thousand of you singing to me!"

"**Excuses, pathetic excuses. Concentrate brat. Even though I hate saying this, that freak teaching you really wants you to learn something since he's given me twenty four hours real time. So, stop your whimpering and get some intelligence out of that pathetic mass you call a brain."**

Naruto scowled but nodded. No matter how Kyuubi hated having to teach him, the demon fox still wanted to make his vessel powerful enough to entertain him. True, it was time, after several near death experiences, that he learnt how to become a shinobi. Rukawa had clearly pointed out to him that during one of their dinners at Ichiraku Ramen.

"Fine. Another round. I'll get it this time."

"**Good. But you'll have to recognize the genjutsu!" **Kyuubi called out in annoyed anticipation. He did several bunshins, transforming some into kunais. He even transformed one of them into a pig that squealed around to suddenly become a sand mine.

Still, Naruto remained calm and dodged them all with his new found speed. _Not yet. Not yet… he hasn't cast a genjutsu yet._

The sand mine morphed up to become Sasuke, who split into ten and charged at him. They suddenly turned into ravens at the last minute. Naruto ducked under them. The ravens veered around and spun at him, changing into shurikens.

"This is it… Kai!" Naruto shouted his hands literally crossed.

He released a large amount of controlled chakra… and the shurikens melted away into the searing white room again. Naruto panted and looked up again.

"**Not bad, brat," **Kyuubi said grudgingly.

Naruto smiled. It was more than "not bad", seeing that he had dispelled a demon's genjutsu, even if was a weak one by Kyuubi's standards. He had recognized and dispelled, all after just four hours.

"**Anyway, now that you've caught the gist of illusion breaking, I'll be teaching you how to cast them. I won't waste my time on stupid things. We'll go straight to a good arsenal of them. You'll handle at least five at the end of this."**

Naruto groaned. It was another long, long, training.

As Naruto trained his butt off in his forced sleep, Rukawa was training his butt even more off. He had drew a seal which released two exact replicas of himself, though not Aikawa Kazuya. In the event that he could die, he needed an advantage, that he would not use. Only one would be fighting him. The other would be his medic at the end of the fight.

Now, the battle had raged for two hours, but he was still high on chakra. A spherical area with a radius of a hundred metres was destroyed, smothered by powerful jutsus.

(Author's Note: I won't be going in on the details of the fight, because then I'd have to show you just how good Rukawa is.)

Blood trickled from his mouth as he slammed into a tree. Rukawa got up, cursing. He sure was powerful. Even though they had the exact make, the duplicate was not at his exact level, only ninety-five percent with only eighty-five percent of the original's chakra. This was because, just as lives could not be resurrected, perfect humans could not be made, especially though a single seal.

Rukawa sneered as he plucked a curved kunai off his shoulder. His clone was going down. At least that was what he hoped.

Unfortunately, the battle raged through the night, finally ending when Rukawa managed, totally exhausted, to kill his duplicate with one of his bloodlimit moves.

A single spark lit the damaged forest, dimmed, before it totally exploded out, causing even to moon to be blinded.

Exactly twenty one and three fourths of an hour had passed. Rukawa waited as his medic healed him before he slept, leaving his living duplicate to keep watch over him and Naruto.

Naruto got up slowly. Though it had been his mind being tormented by the bastard Kyuubi, his physique was still altered, so he was half dead. Thankfully, just as he fell asleep again, he saw that Rukawa was just as tired as he was, with a clone watching over them.

Itachi wrinkled his nose at Sakura's body odour. Sure, she had applied a thick layer of deodorant after they had left for Fire Country's outskirts, but after nine days of training non stop with the great Uchiha Itachi, the deodorant was out… by the second day.

After recovering from his hangover, Itachi finally managed, "Let's go for lunch."

"In this? Hey, Itachi sensei, I need a fresh change of clothes and a shower. Please?"

Itachi decided to fake succumbance to the puppy eyes. "Fine. I give you fifteen minutes.."

Fifteen minutes later, Sakura was showered, slightly damp, and standing with her mentor outside a dessert shop. They entered and took a seat at the booth. Itachi ordered a large combo and a regular one.

Itachi then inspected Sakura closely. He had trained her stamina and speed to up it by five notches, which wasn't a lot considering that her stamina and speed sucked. He had also trained her fire techniques to become a little less proficient than Sasuke's before the Chuunin Exam. A lot of baby fat was gone, and there was a weariness in her green eyes.

But at least, she was now a true kunoichi who would complement the team nicely. On par, he hoped.

For now, though, was the ultimate sensei-student bonding event…

The waitress came with two large bowls. Sakura sweat dropped at the sight. Dango of sesame, peanut, red bean, manga, green paste, was lined up at one side. At another was twelve types of ice cream. Squid ink, clam, milk, seaweed, sashimi…

At last a more feasible meal entered her sight. It was a simmering bowl of seasoned rice and a plate of sashimi, tempura, and vegetables.

Itachi pushed both bowls at Sakura, taking the hot meal for himself.

Sakura stared at him. "Is there a problem, Sakura?"

"Is there a problem!" Sakura repeated.

Itachi pointed his thumb at Sakura's plate. "Those dangos are my favourite food. The icecream is Asuma's, which is why his breath stinks beyond measure. After all, we've been living on rations, and you need a meal where not only you can bond with me by knowing what I like, you can live.

"After all, I am the ultimate king of dangos who won all dango-related competitions for seven years straight!

"Now shut up about a diet or good breath. As a kunoichi, you shouldn't need to care about it. The food is good, I tell you. Shut up, Sakura. Shush. Close it. Shh! Quit whining! Sakura, shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

A month after the Preliminary Exams, Rukawa brought Naruto back to the Uchiha mansion. They went into his personal room, not the one he shared at bedtime with Sasuke. After all, the house was so big they could spare the rooms. He made Naruto have a good bath and change into a new set. They had purchased a set when they were coming in.

Naruto had insisted that he wear his orange jumpsuit, but Rukawa had rebuked it. "It's torn and damaged. Anyway, you shouldn't be a marker for you opponents, but camouflage into the surroundings."

They had purchased beige tunic and and a beige pants of a darker shade.

"After all, the stadium's arena is roughly this colour. Oi! Shut up. Fine, you pick you pick, but you've gotta wear this set, since I've paid for this already.

So Naruto left in his new clothes. The beige had two thin strips of black lining the sides, which complemented his black jacket that had hints of orange. He changed his tunic to sleeveless after Rukawa had insisted a short sleeved jacket, and wore black and orange elbow and ankle guards. Finally, when Naruto peered into the mirror, Rukawa said that he had a bad dress sense.

Dark beige, black, and orange did not go together, as he had said, but when Naruto stepped into the main street, he had acquired a small fan club.

Naruto had changed significantly. He had lost all baby fat and his muscles were well toned. He was now slightly tanned and his eyes were sharper with duller eyes. The eyes had changed because of Kyuubi's interference. It had only been a month, so Naruto was still recognizable, but he had matured a lot more, becoming more silent and observed things a lot more.

All in all, Rukawa had trained Naruto into a worthy shinobi within a month. He met Itachi when he was going down the stairs. Naruto had gone down to pilfer ten packets of Instant Ramen before the matches.

Itachi shoved his hands into his pockets and leant against the wall, right beside the potrait of his great uncle, Uchiha Fuhiroshin. "So, how was your training with Naruto."

Rukawa leant against the wall opposite Itachi. "Excellent. He's definitely a chuunin by now. He's probably not as good as Sasuke, but better than Sakura, no matter how you trained her. No offence. Anyway, I upped his stealth, speed, jutsu arsenal. Also taught him how to harness the Kyuubi's regeneration power. No damage to Yondaime's seal, since I researched extensively on the Kyuubi before that. As for Naruto's genjutsu, Kyuubi taught him."

"What?"

"Yep. It was totally harmless, I assure you. They made a pact. I promised to train Naruto even after the exams. When he's ready, Kyuubi will become a part of Naruto."

"You aren't getting too confident over this, are you, Rukawa? The Kyuubi is a sly bastard and a demon."

"Of course I know that, but Kyuubi's character has become much better, he even likes Naruto now. In fact, I spoke a bit with it in Naruto's mind and now their sharing it. But I also taught Naruto not to rely too much on the demon fox."

Itachi propelled himself off the wall with a push of his back and said, "Okay, I trust you this once. Sakura herself has improved tremendously. As for Sasuke, I don't know about Kakashi's training with him."

Rukawa got off the wall just as Itachi had and continued his way down the staircase silently. There was no point of saying anything anymore, after all.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto gets serious. After all, Rukawa is influencious. Okay, Rukawa's training might have seemed a bit crazy, but all shinobis have eccentric tendencies.

Sasuke will learn more than just speed and Chidori. It's Kakashi, the thousand jutsu shinobi.

As for Itachi training Sakura, Sakura's Inner self is really fiery so, Uchiha techniques seem pretty complementing. This chapter was short, but the next chapter is on the Chuunin Third Test, so it'll be pretty long.


	9. Chapter Eight The Cat,the Fox and the

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. 

Thanks to, **Edengrave, sn1ck3rD00dl3, 2stupid, Doomforyou, Cornett, itachiuchiaismine, and Kisses.In.The.Rain **for the encouragement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Eight- The Cat, the Fox, and the Psychic 

The arena echoed with shouts of encouragement and screams of delight. The sky had cleared into a harsh blue. Genma listened intently on his earpiece, tuning out the rest of the world. In the top seats, occupied by the two kages, Hokage and Kazukage, who had genins from their own country particiapting in the final Chuunin Test, Sandaime listened as the scarred Hijikata gave him a report from Uchiha Itachi and Morino Ibiki.

"Apparently, the Sand ninja do not know it, but the Kazekage was assasinated. Given that the Sound has allied with it, the Kazekage sitting beside you is in fact Orochimaru. What do you propose, Hokage-sama?" Hijikata asked in a low voice, just enough to travel to the Hokage, and from the old man's earpiece, to Genma.

"Activate all of Chuunin rank and above. Ten percent are to come to the stadium, the rest are to defend the outskirts and within Konoha. Academy students are to evacuate, the genins to protect them and the villagers. The Chuunin teachers are to be activated. But the Chuunin Exam continues. Nothing to alert the enemy, if there is. Genma, be on high alert. If a war breaks out, make sure that all the candidates are safe."

"Yes, sir," Genma muttered. To think that after twenty three years, the Sannin Orochimaru was back. To think that the genin and villagers would go on with the Chuunin Exam even with war impending.

The candidates were lined up to face the North side of the stadium. Genma did a single ram seal to activate the air particles. This way, he would not exhaust himself just by speaking. "Welcome to the Chuunin Exam Finals. From the Hidden Leaf Village, we have Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji, Kazuhiko Rukawa, and Uchiha Sasuke!"

The crowd's roar increased by a thousand decibels at the last name. The Hokage's pipe shattered, and a certain snake man smirked.

"From the Hidden Sand Village," Genma asserted more chakra into the air particles to make himself heard, "Sabaku no Kankurou, Sabaku no Temari, and Sabaku no Gaara!

"In the first round, we will have Kazuhiko Rukawa and Sabaku no Temari duel! There are no rules, though the participants may surrender at any point of the match. I can decide the winner before death in order to lower the death count that peaked thirty thousand at the start of the year."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at this. Genma had already briefed them about this. That and Sarutobi's speech. Given that they had reported at least five hours earlier… Just like in the briefing, he and the others stepped back to reveal his teammate and the only kunoichi.

The arena was well maintained. A wide and deep river ran from one side of the arena to the other. There was only one thin tree at the side. Big boulders staggered the smooth gravel in the middle, made slippery by the river water that splashed occasionally, the current aided by several seals.

Rukawa hardly blinked as Temari smirked at him and made some offhand comment about Konoha having "little brats who would fall at the blowing of wind". He was thinking of the large seafood ramen Naruto had treated him to after one of their trainings. The king prawns had been the best other than the soup and ramen. Ichiraku Ramen… he had only tried Miso and Beef, but the Seafood was bliss. Just thinking about it… he could feel the scent of prawns wafting to his nose.

Temari frowned at the lack of response. She whipped out her battle fan and slammed it into the ground, missing Rukawa by inches. Her body was arched, suspended in the air from the downward motion she had used to crack the ground. Rukawa kicked her side. She dropped to the floor on her feet. As they exchanged blows, Temari felt her defense getting weaker. She slid out of the way of a punch, pivoted so that she was between Rukawa and her fan, and wrenched her black weapon from the earth and swung it at him.

Rukawa leapt back and settled into a defensive position. Temari followed through her swipe by opening her fan and breaking gusts of wind at flashed through handseals and dispelled all winds heading his winds by creating mini charges to break the flow.

As Rukawa dispelled the winds, Temari used her free hand to take out three kunais from her weapons pouch. Expertly, she tied the rings loosely in a circle, bounding the rings to the same piece of wire using clove hitches, each a distance appart. Now having a triple bladed mini makeshift Fuuma Shuriken, She gave a final bout of Whirlwind jutsu before flinging her new weapon into her line of fire. Twisting as far back as she could, she put all her weight into her backhand swing, the strong wind catching the kunais and sending them bounding forth. "Homing meteor no jutsu!"

Since his electric charges would make the kunais even more deadly, Rukawa dodged the spinning creep. Just like its name, the tied kunais followed his movements. Surprised, Rukawa flicked out a kunai and deflected it, before leaping away. Temari smiled as her kunais continued to chase him.

Panting slightly, she bent forwards, her hands, one of them holding her fan, and charged. Together with her independent homing device, she attacked Rukawa. Rukawa danced passed all of her moves, occasionally deflecting her fan with a powerful punch from his kunai.

The two ninjas and one object weaved around each other. When Temari found that she could not move, she realised it was literal. A thin wire had looped around one of her kunais' rings in a dead knot. As the kunai spun after him, Rukawa had led the weapon so that it wound around Temari instead of him.

Temari looked up and growled. Clenched in Rukawa's teeth was a needle with a wire looped around it. Then she disappeared into a mould of sand.

"A sand bunshin?" Rukawa exclaimed, and threw himself to the side by instinct. The right side had been a bad choice. Temari had attacked from that side, so when Rukawa jumped hard away, his head had connected to polished, well maintained titanium. Instant concussion.

Temari smirked as the boy sank to the ground. Then Rukawa turned from a mould of sand to a scattered dirt. _Sand Bunshin? _Temari's mind screeched as her smirk disappeared.

She turned around and raised her battle fan, both arms supporting each end, and collected Rukawa's heel slam. She threw him off and shouted, "Fine! But let's see how you'll take this, brat!"

She slammed her fan into the pile of sand so that it scattered in the air. It wasn't a jutsu, but a blinding technique nevertheless. The dust fell into Rukawa's eyes and he yelped. Temari grinned and whacked him once, twice, before batting him at the side so that he spun around before hitting a strong grounder into his butt.

Rukawa fell, head first, into the river, his butt burning. Fortunately, the water cleared the sand in his eyes, and he used chakra balance to float up again. He performed hand seals faster than Temari could see and shouted, "Water Dragon no jutsu!"

In one spiral, a dragon-like shape of water sprouted from the river surface and plunged into Temari.

Her skidding body stopped at the shrivelled tree.

Rukawa flicked through a couple of seals until his right hand glowed brightly with chakra. Then, he snapped his fingers, creating a flash of lighting to crash about Temari, forcing the hunter to become the hunted.

Temari tucked her fan back into the cloth wrap that wound from her shoulder to her waist and ran for her life, though it was more of a jump. Every time she took five steps, a sudden beam of lighting would crash before her. She was lucky that unlike other genins, she had gone on A ranked missions and often sparred with Gaara. As a result, her reflexes had been honed to an extent that the jags of high voltage never got within a foot of her.

This went on for about four seconds when both of them became quite bored of this strategy.

Temari did handseals as quick as she could as she weaved around bolts of electricity, before finally slamming both palms on the sandy ground before tumbling away.

Rukawa stopped snapping his fingers when he saw the kunoichi do some jutsu. Upon instinct, he dove to the left, and a large solid beam of hardened mineral sprouted from where he had been. He shuckled and asked, "Temari-san, did you really want to impale me?"

"Shut up, you skimpy brat!"

Rukawa frowned at his clothing. None of it was revealing. An opening, he realised, had been created.

The pain was excruciating as Temari broke three of his ribs by stabbing him with her big, black fan. She grunted and pushed his sagging body off the head of her fan into the ground. He stared face up, panting, as Temari shifted the fan point over him again, a determined expression painted there.

Suddenly, she felt very, very alone. Here she was, about to kill a defenseless boy on her whim, a whim born of anger. It was just like Gaara. It was almost funny that while she was acting like Gaara, this boy had the eyes that her younger brother had when he was little, which was now only in passing. They were sad eyes, searching for something.

_Splash._ The eyes disappeared.

"Katon! Gokakyuu no jutsu!" A boy's voice shouted behind her.

Rukawa did have sad eyes that searched for somethings at times, but they were different. Gaara had empty, immature eyes. Not that the ninja was immature, but those lonely eyes were immature because he had too high a point of belonging to someone, since he now thought he belonged to himself only, which was actually pretty dangerous. Rukawa's lonely eyes had meaning, since he had tasted belonging, even if it was only for a second when Shisui had adopted him.

As despicable as it was, Rukawa had copied it off Gaara in the participants' waiting room. But it had worked anyway; Temari was dang rattled. She pulled out her battle fan in a flash and blew most of the fireball away. As much as wind fuelled fire, candles were blown out instead of doused. The wind was far greater than the fireball, although it meant that it kicked off most of her chakra.

Hatake Kakashi looked at the arena thoughtfully. It seemed different then when the fight first began. Of course there were minor scratches, but… then it hit him. "So, that Suna nin is pretty resourceful, although in her current state, she might not be able to execute her move perfectly."

"What do you mean, Kakashi-san?" Sakura asked. Kakashi pointed to the sub terra below and answered, "Look at the battle ground carefully."

"Well… shit," Sakura cussed.

Kakashi arched his visible eyebrow at her. Sakura shrugged. Kakashi turned back to the scene. Uchiha Itachi, prodigy ninja… and now, he supposed… prodigy teacher.

Temari raised a knife and cut the wire at her feet. Immediately, more than just a few shuriken spun at Rukawa from the north, south, and east. Rukawa took to the west. Go into the air and he was air-borne vulnerable. To be on ground… ah well.

Two sand bunshins appeared on his either side and waved their fans about. Rukawa leapt into the air this time, only to be caught in a wire trap. The main string was attached to the tree and another boulder. Other wires were loosely tied, though they made sure that he had to stay afloat on air so as not get caught by the sharp wires now below him.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," Rukawa muttered and used his clone to fling him away as it disappeared as it fell into the wires. Landing with his feet firmly chakra-planted onto the tree, Rukawa used a kunai to cut the main string. A strange sizzle alerted him.

_Exploding notes?_ He thought before leaping away. The blast caught him from behind, but he managed to somersault and land gracefully on the water surface. Another fizzle whizzed past his ear. A light ball attached to a kunai.

The ball burst just before his eyes and the flash blinded his retinas. Keeping his calm, Rukawa immediately reverted to his smelling and hearing senses. He blocked three kunai from opposite directions and ducked two jabs. Still blinded, Rukawa managed to maneuver away from the attacks.

"Whirlpool no jutsu!" A female voice shouted ahead. Rukawa felt the water swerved beneath his feet before he was abruptly sucked in. Using more chakra to slide on the surface of the moving water so that he wouldn't go with the tide, Rukawa flashed through seals and directed the honed chakra into the water.

Lighting flashed through the liquid conductor and blasted Temari out, making her body reek of pain but not unconciousness. As she lay battered and still, Rukawa stepped out of the water carefully and waited for his eyes to regain visibility, his senses sill attuned to Temari's presence… her very heartbeat.

Badum. Badum. Badum. Ba-dumm.. Ba-dumm.. Badum-Badum-Badum-Badum-Badum.

Rukawa opened his eyes as Temari got to her feet and charged wearily at him. It was around the same speed as Naruto before the one-month training. The colours around him were still at high-res, but at least he could see.

He dodged her double back fists and high butterfly kicks, before twisting from his own elbow strike, although his follow up attack of a low spinning hook kick sent her careening to the ground, and he gave her a vicious uppercut that flipped her up and over. As she descended, he ran and sent her a powerful front kick that made her crash into the river.

Rukawa ran after her onto the water, and reached down to grab her water-logged clothes and heft her out. Dropping her, Rukawa kept her above the water using a roundhouse kick, a back fist, and a spinning kick. Temari coughed out a large wad of blood, scrunched in pain and hurt. Then he jabbed her out of the water onto dry land.

Temari futilely tried to deflect Rukawa's attacks, her arms heavy from fatigue. Each punch was so painfully she was sure her bones would break soon. Everytime she thought a kick was enough for the konoha shinobi, he would just send her a roundhouse punch that drove her back. Soon she was coughing a lot blood.

Personally, Rukawa wondered what he was waiting for. He could just pull out a kunai slowly and slit her throat easily. But something was holding him back, as if using taijutsu on her defenseless body would sate him. It wasn't working. In any case, he wished, somehow, that he was the one being beaten up.

_Am I crazy, or just plain stupid?_

Finally, he snapped his mind out of his lobotomy and kicked her away from him, stumbling back.

Temari was a lot of pain. She had improvised every combo and jutsu she knew, and yet, the boy who was four years her junior, was thwarting her plans as if he could read her mind. A sudden thought chilled her, filling her with fear. When she pitted against Gaara, at least he was determined or slightly flustered, but this boy was staring at her blankly, hardly breaking a sweat.

A few ribs were broken, her right forearm certainly was, and her muscles were roaring. Still, she willed herself to stand up. She took the discarded fan beside her and propped herself up.

Rukawa cocked his head at her.

Temari snarled and hurled herself at the shinobi with as much strength that she could muster, attempting to spear him with her fan. To her shock, he grabbed the fan and pulled it through him and said, "Flash charge no jutsu."

In suspiscioun, Temari let go of her fan just in time, but some of the electricity had conducted to her arms just in time, rendering them numb with roaring pain. Her concentraion and wits were broken.

Kakashi stared down, wondering why most of Temari's extensive trap had not worked, not actually caring about the fight. The outcome had been obvious, anyway.

Four Rukawas shot from the ground, surrounding Temari. The electric residue that trailed from them showed that they were bunshins. Suddenly, the real Rukawa appeared beneath her and slammed a mule kick into her jaw. She sailed into the air by twenty feet. Rukawa then straightened up and looked at her. "Ninpou. Dance of the element!"

The bunshins became translucent figures with clear electric residues brimming within them. They shot through Temaru in all four directions, connecting with her at the same time. Her scream was silent, but the pain was evident. Her body was stretched taut and rigid, sizzling slightly. She hung there for a moment, and Rukawa jumped up after her, arriving two feet over her. He flipped once quickly, and slammed his heel into her abdomen. She did not fall. Rather, she smashed into the ground, breaking more bones.

Rukawa landed calmly, not breaking a sweat, as if he had not performed two powerful jutsus and a powerful taijutsu kick.

Genma chewed on his prick furiously and announced, "Winner! Kazuhiko Rukawa of the Hidden Leaf!"

Above in the seats, the crowd was yelling excitedly, they had been awaiting the Uchiha survivor's fight, but this was pretty incredible. It was 'deep shit', as one particular villager called it.

Higher up in the stands, an ANBU scout filled in his notebook. Kazuhiko Rukawa was garranteed a place in ANBU as long as he passed and did a few missions after becoming Chuunin. The boy's performance was great, he had been calm and had calculated each move perfectly, and had all the necessary skills.

Rukawa skulked out of the arena into a room in the basement reserved for participants where they could look out through the window into the fight. He was shoved into the wall by his collar. The particular Suna nin had purple war paint on his face. Kankurou shouted, "What have you done to my sister?"

Rukawa regarded him calmly but coldly. "Nothing seriously. The medic nins will save her bones and back. Plus, I made sure it was nothing lethal. So, let go of me. After all, we have a match after Naruto's. You can show me your brute force later."

Kankurou glared at the midget a while more, before shoving Rukawa further up and storming away.

Rukawa sat on the couch beside Sasuke and watched Naruto step into the battlefield.

Naruto's boots crunched on the gravel and he used his chakra to amplify out to Hyuuga Neji, knowing that it would irritate and excite the shinobi. "Stop it!"

Naruto walked silently after that, smirking at Neji. It was a silly move that Kyuubi had suggested when he was close to squashing Naruto in irritation. Naruto had mastered it in two minutes.

Neji started after Genma had given his go-ahead signal, initiating a melee combat immediately. Jyuuken, obviously. His hands flashed through the air in blurs. Even though Naruto was fast, but stealth was not quite the issue with a Byakugan user. He had intended to use a long distance ninjutsu set up first, but he should have calculated better. Of course the Gentle Fist would be Neji's fight. Soon, Neji maneuvered Naruto back, and leant back just as Naruto stumbled back. Gaining foot immediately, Naruto leant forward to attack, but Neji merely dance forward and struck Naruto twice…

"Sixty-four palm strike!"

Naruto spun into the air and landed, immobile, metres away, motionless. Neji smirked at the blond. "This is fate, Uzumaki. You heard it, but you did not believe it. Now, I hope that I have conformed you."

"Like shit I will."

Neji spun around to meet up with Naruto's boot. Neji flicked back and was confronted by two Naruto clones. Beside him, he saw that the previously immobile Naruto was now a log. Using Jyuuken, he dispersed the bunshins.

The bunshins were mizu bunshins, thanks to Rukawa. So Neji was irritated when water splashed into his clothes. It did not go well with the sun. Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him, a few feet away. Neji thought he saw a flicker of chakra disturbance in Naruto, but he dismissed it. Naruto walked closer before saying, "Neji, you really should relax a bit, you know. Being so uptight, you won't be quick enough to dodge my moves."

"Shut it, Uzumaki Naruto. Or was it dead last? Like I've heard. Believe it was all over academy school then. Hn. Anyway, what makes you think that you, in those weird coloured clothes, would actually look good? I guess it's just fate that the dead last wouild be last in everything."

(A/N: I think that females and males sometimes have different opinions about dress sense. As a result, Naruto looks bad to the guys while he looks pretty good to females.)

Naruto bristled and grinned ferally at Neji. "Oh yeah, Hyuuga Neji, quite the divination expert, isn't it?

"Well, I'll show you that fate isn't a set path! It's a forked path! We make the choices!"

With his final retort, Naruto lunged forward. They exchanged a few short blows before Neji gave him a double palmed strike. Naruto fell to the ground in a heap of water.

The water that had spalshed into the ground rose up again, formed a water band the circled Neji once, before pummelling him like the plague. Neji fell back into the log. Suddenly, the log kicked him, and Neji rolled a few rounds. Naruto was gone again, the log was gone, and so was the Naruto he now realised was a genjutsu.

Neji had not fully mastered the Byakugan, so careful chakra protection shielded Neji from knowing that the genjutsu was a genjutsu. Then he found Naruto, hiding behind the tree, drawing a seal using blood from his thumb on the ground.

Neji growled and dashed at Naruto, reaching the tree in a moment. Neji swung at Naruto, who dodged and hurled two shuriken at the Hyuuga. He had just flung them when he realised his mistake.

"Kaiten!" Neji concentrated chakra around him and it exploded outwards in a perfect, thought small, spinnin sphere. The shurikens were caught in the whirlwind before being spat out and lodging into Naruto's shoulder, passing through and puncturing the tree.

Though shocked that the Naruto was another genjutsu, Neji took the opportunity to use his Kaiten to destroy the seal. He spun once more then stopped. Using his near perfect all seeing sight, Neji felt Naruto above him and turned upwards. Neji kicked Naruto three times so hard that both of them went into the air. Naruto spat some blood out, but he spat them into Neji's eyes, blinding them. Even in mid-air, Naruto punched Neji in the gut. Neji cleared the blood and kicked Naruto.

Naruto rolled with the kick and pushed Neji away. Neji twisted three times so that he was at the wall, before running up it. Naruto raced after him. They exchanged blows on the wall, Naruto slapping Neji's palms away as Neji dodged Naruto's quick jabs.

Naruto finally broke away from their deadlock and turned away to run further up the wall. Neji sneered at the gesture and reached out, but only caught Naruto's jacket. Naruto shrugged off the black jacket and flipped away along the horizontal expanse of the wall. Pivoting, he skidded to a twisting stop on the wall. Neji checked the jacket with one look before flinging it away hurriedly.

The small exploding note blew up with a force that sent Neji pitching forward. Naruto met the winded Neji with a spinning kick, then delivered a solid uppercut. Neji returned with a graceful low scissors kick that cut Naruto to go below him. Once again, they shifted vertically up and down the wall.

"Kaiten!" Neji shouted as he used his ultimate defense. He had perfected the move to be used against the creepy Gaara, so it was a pity to show the Sand shinobi what he could do at such an early match.

Truth be told, Neji was surprised that Uzumaki Naruto was still holding his ground well. Fate showed Neji through his ultimate Byakugan that Naruto was to lose, but why was the fight so evenly matched?

Naruto grabbed hold of Neji's arms and smirked, "You know, let's not limit this to just taijutsu, psychic!"

Naruto, how was lower than Neji on vertical terms, hefted Neji over his head and sent both of them, preparing to bodyslam Neji. At about thirty feet from the ground, it would be a powerful bodyslam.

_But it would give Neji ample time for a counter attack, _Sasuke noted.

Neji closed his eyes in concentration. Directing his chakra to his arms, Neji let the chakra explode from there as he sneered at the Uzumaki's face. Naruto yelled as his hands were gentle-fisted and kicked away from Neji. Neji landed on the earth using kaiten.

Naruto panted hard as he tried to use Kyuubi's chakra to regenrate the chakra points.

_Oi, demon fox! Come on, before that psychic bastard comes after me!_

**You really are weak, even though the human and I have taught you. After all that, I would expect you to be able to climb out of this dumb mess. Why should I help you?**

_Fox-bastard! Gimme your chakra!_

**Call me Kyuubi-sama and say the magic word, and I might consider it.**

_Fox-bastard, don't waste my time! You know, after spending so many nights with you, I thought you'd be kind!_

**Your language is perverse for one so dumb and young.**

_Kyuubi!_

**Kyuubi-sama and the magic word, brat.**

_Urgh…! Fine! Kyuubi-sama, can you please regenerate my tenketsu points?_

**Okay brat, but I'll need some of your mind. Concentrate on opening up my chakra lines down there. You know how to do it.**

Naruto did know how to do it. Yondaime Arashi had sealed Kyuubi inside Naruto's chakra core, so over the years, Kyuubi had manifested chakra pipes to coil around Naruto's. These were without tenketsu points, so control would be much harder. After so many years, most of these pipes were… blocked, as Kyuubi called it.

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated hard. His brows were knitted together from the effort. It was like using a rubber duckie to break through diamond.

Brat! If you don't concentrate, I won't be able to do anything, you numbskull! 

"Shut up, fox!" Naruto screamed and changed the rubber quacker into a chisel.

Astalabistaa, baby! 

Naruto stood dumbfounded as he hands regained normality and more. _What did you just say, fox?_

**Astalabistaa, brat. Never heard of the word? Man, it's quoted from your great Yondaime once he called the death minion out to seal me. Isn't it supposed to be one of your village quotes, engraved on every memorial stone?**

Never heard of it.

**You humans are such dumblings.**

Neji recoiled in shock as Naruto deftly stepped back and grabbed his forearm. Naruto pulled Neji forward before giving the white-eyed shinobi a well deserved kick. Neji skidded away and asked, "What…? You shouldn't even be able to move your arms!"

Naruto smirked and bit his thumb, letting blood trail. "What, didn't you foresee that, O great Hyuuga? After all, 'dead lasts' do things the unorthodox way, genius-bastard!

'Summoning Technique!" Naruto yelled and slammed both palms in the ground. A cloud of smoke erupted from there and the fluffy white residue exaled until it covered half of the arena.

Neji flipped back and glared wide eyed at the beast. Through his byakugan he could see only a dark shape… with tenketsu points! He grinned at the prospect of shutting down the monster with his Gentle Fist.

The smoke cleared, and the beast grinned ferally back. Come of the crowd up in the stands drew in a surprised and angry breath. These ninjas were those who remembered the evil reign of the destructive fox demon.

Naruto's summoned monster had white fur shaded by grey and tints of red. At a closer take, it was a wolf, but so far up, those ninjas who were immediately bias against the Kyuubi vessel took it to be a fox, for a while.

Naruto's wolf had the narrower eyes of a fox, and the reddish fur was an added gift of Kyuubi's bonus.

Naruto raised a finger forcefully at Neji and shouted, his eyes a mischievious grin, "Wolfy! Get that sucker!"

The wolf growled and pounced at Neji, who doved away in time before running in for the kill. The wolf growled and thought a thought that amplified to Naruto, _"My name isn't Wolfy! It's Akadan!"_

Neji slid under Akadan's pounce and managed to graze the wolf with his Gentle Fist. Getting up quickly, he rushed to Akadan and slammed the wolf twice, "Sixty four palm strike!"

Akadan skidded back to Naruto and whimpered. Naruto grinned sheepishly at Neji and said, "Sorry, mate, guess letting him have this battle experience was a pretty big leap. Get back to where you came from, Wolfy!"

The young wolf glared weakly and went in a poof.

Naruto then armed his hands with a kunai each and glared at Neji. "On a second note, I'm gonna get back at you for hurting Wolfy!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Gosh, that loghead keeps on getting his macho phrases beat down by last minute idiocies," Sasuke grumbled and shook his head wearily.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neji's triumphant smile disappeared. The wimpy loser in front of him actually had the gall to toy with him with some new born pup! He really had to put an end to this filth, and show the dead last up that he was the winner, and would always be.

He hated that big, fat smile plastered on the blondie's head.

He hated the loser's boot crunching technique.

He hated the way his life was run.

He would show them all up, especially that Hyuuga _Head_!

Screaming like a fanatic, Neji let out his anger by running so fast that he knocked into Naruto and landed three jabs before Naruto finally got the fast paced rhythm.

They ducked, flipped, parried and attacked, exchanging bruising blows. Neji, after being hit so much, was tiring more than Naruto, who was getting pretty slow. Finally, Neji tossed away Naruto's left hook and slamed a palm into Naruto's abdomen.

Neji regained his breath as Naruto lay there quivering. Finally, he had won. There was no way a genin would be able to recover a fully powered Jyuuken like that. No way at all.

Naruto was in fact struggling to get up, his entire torso was numb and painful, so he was very afraid. Afraid that if Neji got to him sooner than he got up, he would lose.

**Shut thinking that, brat. After picking yourself up so many times, I would have thought that you would be smart enough to do so. So, get up!**

_Thanks, fox. Now! Regenerate me! Together, we'll show that pompous snot-nose!_

…

Naruto waited until his tenketsus were reopened before flipping up and back fisting Neji with the butt of his kunai. Neji's head snapped back, but with his byakugan, he managed to see Naruto throw his other kunai and rolled back, sustaining only a deep gash.

He was gearing up to attack once more when Naruto plunged two kunai into the wall and crouched, compressing himself towards the wall. Neji sailed past him before Naruto lashed out, hurling the older shinobi even further up. As Neji shot into the air, Naruto let go of the kunai and used chakra to suction his soles to the wall and ran up, passing Neji.

Neji reached the apex of his ascent when Naruto punched his jaw, throwing him further out from the wall. Naruto jumped after Neji and kicked Neji in the gut, the flipped over once and kicked him again. Just before Neji could descend quickly, Naruto used the heel of his left boot to hook onto Neji's jaw and send him up slightly. Naruto then gave Neji a roundhouse to the face so that he could go to the ground. "Uzumaki Naruto Combo!"

Naruto landed on the ground hard before scrambling up to run from Neji. The last hit had not felt right. In fact, his fist hurt a lot, as if his muscles were torn. He contracted Kyuubi's regeneration as he ran. During the last hit, Neji had done half a Kaiten to protect and cushion himself. As the clouds of smoke rolled away, Neji was already up, half crazed and dashing at Naruto. Blood was flowing from his mouth, and his movements were jerky, but his hits were fast and powerful. Naruto had sustained seven hits when he did a set of seals.

Neji saw the doton clone, and he used a simple two handed Gentle Fist to clear the ilk. His two hands connected when they sank into the mud…

"Doton! Earth eater no jutsu!"

Neji sank into the clone so that only his head, since he was a head taller than Naruto, was visible. His eye brows were knitted tightly as the original Naruto released his hands from the clone and did another palm slamming action into the ground before his doton clone.

"Doton! Earth eater no jutsu!"

This time, Neji sank with the doton clone into the ground so that only his head was visible.

Naruto stood tall over his head. Neji felt really helpless, with his Byakugan deactivated. "Neji, give it up and surrender."

"Never," he spat defiantly. Never, not with the head member sitting there. He had to think of a way. He wanted to do a Kaiten, but Naruto was using large amounts of chakra to compress him so tightly that he could not move.

Naruto sighed and said, "Fate has nothing to this. Although you foresaw my defeat, I fought for my victory."

With that final message, Naruto pressed a senbon that he had found carefully at Neji's neck. Rukawa had taught him that in the event he needed to get rid of an enemy, to use that. "Surrender now, Neji, or I can't help you."

"No," Neji glared at him through those sunken, white eyes. They were, however, softer.

Naruto closed his eyes and poked the senbon through Neji. Neji drew a sharp intake of breath before dying.

Genma chewed his whittle and shouted, "Winner! Uzumaki Naruto of Hidden Leaf!"

The medics rushed up to Neji and pulled out the senbon. Immediately, Neji came alive again. It was just temporary death, of course. Then, they used a Doton Elevatory Technique to lift Neji out before lifting him onto a stretcher and carrying him out.

The crowd clapped and whistled. Naruto grinned up at them with a wide smile before running into the participant's room.

The rush of cool, air-condition hit him as Naruto sighed in relief. He exchanged high-fives with Rukawa and Sasuke and slumped into his seat. Rukawa got up, smiled once at them, and followed Kankurou out into the arena of sodden dust.

Genma could feel the intensity between the two genins. In fact, it was so high that the crowd was scared into silence, afraid that their brains would combust if it left their butts.

Kankurou was older, but it was obvious that the one that had defeated his sister so easily was in better control over his emotions. Rukawa's face was passive, unlike Kankurou's contorted one, but he was purposefully letting his killing intent out in waves, and he was employing all momvement traits of fear-instillation.

Fortunately for the Suna genin, Kankurou's rage was so deep that he did not feel as much fear as he should have. He knew what had to be done, and loathed it completely. Sure, he would have been in a predicament to fight with Temari, who was his blood sister, but to have to do it now to a brat… was unbearable.

Genma felt fear that froze his very bones, in fact, everyone in the stadium was feeling terror. Even Anko, who was almost used to Orochimaru's killer intent, was shaking visibly, her lips clamped in a thin line. The kages were quite shaken. The ANBU scout could not move, but he made a mental note to add Rukawa's intent into the notebook.

Realising that the battle would never start if he did not lower his intent, Rukawa deactivated all fear instillation stances and decreased his killer intent by three quarters. Genma walked between them and asked, "Would either of you like to surrender?"

The crowd roared at the question. It had not been heard for five years, and the fight was too good to be chanced upon. It was like Uchiha Itachi up against whoever all over again. There was no way either party would pass up the chance, but Kankurou did anyway.

Without hiding his anger, Kankurou raised a glove hand, glared a hole through a blank Rukawa, and forced out, "I, Sabaku no Kankurou, forfeit my right to participate in this Exam."

Rukawa blinked once and turned away, ignoring the jeers of the villagers. His mind was whirring though. Itachi had given him a full report on the happenings of Konoha, that the jounin instructor that had supervised their preliminary exam had been killed by a Suna Jounin. Findings from certain factions had also revealed that the Sound and Sand had allied, and planned to attack konoha. For today only, Itachi had reinstated himself as ANBU commander to patrol and defend Konoha's borders.

Since Kankurou has surrendered even though he had every reason to take the mickey outta me, the action will begin soon. Either mine and Naruto's fight, or Sasuke's fight, although I strongly presume the latter. Considering Orochimaru's motives plus the Jinchuukri of the Sand, it would be the perfect explosion, Rukawa thought as he took a seat on the couch.

Sasuke got up from his seat and turned to Rukawa, "I learnt a lot from Kakashi, so I won't disappoint you. I'll be meeting you in the finals."

Naruto exclaimed, "What about me? Don't you think I have a chance against Rukawa, Sasuke?"

Sasuke smirked at the Uzumaki. "Honestly? No. Even though you're good, but Rukawa's better."

Rukawa scratched his head and replied to Sasuke, "Don't waste up all of your chakra in this match. Use your brain. You'll be needing the chakra for later, since I don't think there will even be a finals. Stuff here is way too fishy. Naruto, Sasuke, there is possible war. The Sound and Sand have formed an allegiance against us."

Actually, there was no melodramatic effect since Rukawa had said it all so blandly. So, Naruto and Sasuke nodded seriously and returned or went to whatever they were supposed to be doing, Naruto playing chopsticks with himself, and Sasuke readying himself for fight that might not finish.

"You know, Naruto, Konoha isn't the only home that the world can offer you. It's a vast expanse, and the map that was planned by the greatest kages is just a small portion of this earth. A lot of adventures are waiting out there, it's just up to someone to unravel them."

"Really? Ah well, but to become the Hokage is the only way I'll be acknoledged by everyone!"

"Only the people in Konoha. They might acknoledge your existence, but they'll never really respect you, since they see you as a demon, which you aren't, of course. But if you go out onto the world's stage, everyone will respect you."

Naruto looked at Rukawa for a little while more. He then tapped his forehead protector and said seriously, "My loyalties lie with Konoha."

Rukawa placed his hands behind his head and watched Genma address Sasuke and Gaara. "Yeah. Of course."

Naruto shook Rukawa's elbow. "Hey, why did you ask?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me!"

"Nothing."

"Tell me!"

"Shut up."

"Tell me!"

Whap.

"Oww…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Rukawa is talking more, good or bad, I dunno yet. But I stepped up his game. It's not a Mary Sue thing, just a normal Jounin-leveled shinobi against a genin ninja fight.

As for Naruto's conversations with Kyuubi, its not verbal, but Kyuubi is pretty fond of Naruto. Naruto and Rukawa, on the other hand, have an outright fondness.

Okay, so Sasuke has doubts about Rukawa, but that doesn't mean they don't like each other, and Sasuke's off hand comments throughout this chapter has got nothing to do with arrogance, since I don't think Sasuke should ever have been perceived as arrogant.

Finally, the next chapter is a big turn of events, away from the canon. And I'm thinking of an Akatsuki appearance plot, though I'm don't think it will come soon.

Please review!


	10. Chapter Nine Fire Versus Sand

**Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto.**

Finally, it's up! Maybe it just seemed a long time because of my Math test, but nevermind!

This chapter took pretty long because I needed to make Sasuke's fight good and had a writing weirdness for a while, so there was a lot of edits.

Thanks to these people who reviewed! **2stupid**, **MagusKyros**, **katie**, **Cornett**, **noearthlyclue**, **Edengrave**! I was crazy for a long, long time…

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter Nine- Fire versus Sand**

Sakura never felt more excited for her ex-husher. Not that she had forgotten her crush on Sasuke, but after Itachi's tutorship, things had changed. Sasuke(-kun) could be her crush later. The very fact that Sasuke was facing the Suna snob who had thrashed Lee, and that she was excited instead of fearful for him, was the proof.

And, Hatake Kakashi, the closet pervert was sitting beside her. Sakura had heard a lot of him from Sasuke. A closet pervert, yet one the Itachi would trust with his life. Now that Kakashi was so close, Sakura could feel a calm, sorrowful, but driven power that bubbled beneath that lazy exterior and head protector.

Before, she would have been pissed at his perverse tendencies, but now, it was mixed with respect.

Things had changed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sandaime stole a look under his kage hat at the Kazekage. He chuckled, hiding it by taking huge puffs on his pipe. No matter how good Orochimaru was, the excited licking of lips was always the giveaway. But it also meant one thing, that the war would start soon.

The first round of the Third Test had hardly started, but what was this premonition rising up within him like bile?

"Hijikata."

Hijikata leant in close.

"Inform all personnel that the war is coming. Send at least two teams of Chuunin to protect the hospitals. Also… I need a team of Jounin outside the door as soon as possible. Orochimaru might have his five Sound nins with him."

"Yes, sir!" Hijikata whispered fiercely.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was striking hot now, warming the cool river water. Sasuke did not fancy jumping into the water and out, with his clothes already soaking with sweat. But that was not his main concern. His target was to beat a boy who had killed countless Chuunins. The boy in question appeaered undaunted. Sasuke grinned darkly. He would make Gaara daunted, that, he would.

"Begin," Genma said distractedly as his earpiece buzzed with information.

Gaara put his arms out and shouted, "Sabaka no Kyuu (Desert Coffin)!"

The sand, which had gotten faster over the month, clenched over the younger Uchiha brother before he could react.

Gaara closed his fist. "Sabaka no Sousou (Desert Funeral)!"

The sand covering Sasuke exploded inwards.

Almost immediately, Gaara set up a wall of sand to his right. It had been all too easy, and the black blur he had seen behind his Desert Coffin was the proof of that. _Genjutsu. Uchiha Sasuke is proficient in that aspect_. The expected punch landed on the sand wall, and Gaara made more hand seals. "Sabaka no Kyuu."

"Bakuhatsu Bunshin no jutsu!"

Gaara's eyes widened as his own sand blossomed out and swatted him away. His defensive wall had softened so that it could cover Sasuke rapidly in the Desert Coffin attack, and in that precise moment, Sasuke had performed a powerful Exploding Bunshin Jutsu.

Gaara sailed through the air like a doll. Thankfully, a soft pillow of sand protected him. Then the Uchiha was in his face, then gone. And he felt a kick at his back, before the Uchiha was forced to dart away from the waterfalls of sand.

Sasuke gathered chakra into his shurikens and spun them at Gaara, hoping that the weapons would be as fast as he had been. The shurikens spun in an arc around a wall of sand, the deflected each other, one embedding into a sand clone, another into Gaara's personal defense.

The others failed to hit anything, clattering to the floor.

Gaara's walls of hard sand melted away, and he looked at Sasuke, unflustered. Sasuke frowned. His psychological attack had not worked.

Sasuke charged again, pumping chakra into the air before him. "Wind Cutter no jutsu!"

The crowd watched in fascination as the air between Sasuke and Gaara suddenly seemed to rip in all directions, making the earth crumble. Then Gaara had extended his arm, directing heaps of sand towards the Kaze jutsu.

Gaara saw the Uchiha shift around the sand and extended his other arm. "You're not escaping me, Uchiha Sasuke!" He shouted.

Then a long arm of sand burst out at him, and Sasuke ran away from it, as fast as he could, then muttered, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu."

Stepping into the shadow of his bunshin, Sasuke used that split second of coverage to flash through three hand seals. It was the same genjutsu he had seen one dark night, performed by Itachi. His form melted into the floor…

Gaara smirked as the Uchiha broke under his sand. But this is not him… The many dangerous missions against top ninjas told Gaara that in order to survive the attempts of his father to kill him, improvisation was the best after his sand.

Now that his sand was a tad slow for the opponent, he had thought of another plan. As the sand had chased after Sasuke, Gaara had concentrated a burst of chakra into one tiny patch, so that a trickle of his sand would slip into Sasuke's pocket as a homing device.

Gaara closed his eyes and listened for his chakra… _There!_

Gaara pumped chakra into the water bed under the boulders and shouted, "Quicksand no Jutsu!"

"Katon! Ryuuka no jutsu!"

Gaara spun around, bits of sand piecing together. The sand wall asorbed most of the flame, but weakened. Then a chopping sound alerted Gaara, and he flashed through hand seals, but the gathered chakra was wasted, for a chakra-powered Fuuma Shuriken ripped through his sand defense and sliced his arm, before spinning away like a boomerang, returning to the young Uchiha's hands.

Sasuke folded his Windmill with a jerk of his wrist and grinned deviously. Kakashi's lessons on Wind Techniques had been useful.

Gaara frowned at the thin slit of blood, his sand armour cracked. "Your presence really irks me now, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Good to hear that, Gaara. I was meant to do that, isn't it?" Sasuke questioned, before slamming his Fuuma Shuriken, blades flat facing front, shielding from the sand walls which had suddenly thrust forward. He felt his sandals slipping under the smooth rock beds. No matter the chakra power, Gaara's sand was forcing through the gaps.

Then the water behind him exploded, just as the sand infront of him had, then crashing down… Sasuke sweated as the sands threatened to kill him in half a second. Spreading chakra around him, Sasuke cried out, "Doton armour!"

The rocks built up around him just as sand fell forwards. Sasuke felt the sands pummeling his weak rock armour, and in turn, bruising his shoulders painfully. But there was no time, not now. Sasuke performed handseals, grabbing his right forearm.

"Raikiri!" A thousand birds chirped wildly as blue chakra gathered at his hands. Sasuke threw his arm forward, then sprinted the fastest that Kakashi had helped him to. Jounin speed. His Sharingan instinctively focused on the beads of sand falling away in slow motion as his Lightning Edge broke through the attack, then he was suddenly up close at Gaara. The Suna-nin's automatic defense was setting up, his green eyes widened at the spiky black hair.

Sasuke put his entire arm through Gaara's midsection, feeling real organs palpilating. Bloody flesh, pouring over his own skin. Then sand.

Sasuke jerked his arm out in horror. It was Gaara's body shell, just as in Rock Lee's fight, when he had done the Secondary Lotus, only to find Gaara gone. _Which means that he's behind me. Shit!_

Sasuke pivoted quickly, feeling tendons creak in protest. "Sand Barrier no jutsu!"

It was a brave move, reckless and rash even. Sasuke crossed palms and slammed them into Gaara's oncoming sand, and tried to make a sand barrier out of Gaara's personal supply. The barrier was weak, but saved Sasuke from sprained muscles or shattered bones. Instead, the slammed into the stadium wall.

Gaara was sneering derisively. "Feeling pain now, Uchiha Sasuke? That's the sound of your death."

"Oh yeah? All I hear is lip, Gaara-sama," Sasuke taunted. Gaara fumed inwardly and outwardly, and unleashed the full force of his killing intent. Most of the Stadium froze and the shivers that clanged through their bones.

Gaara chuckled and raised both arms. "Kaasan, I have a sacrifice at last, one whose blood will sate you for decades!"

Sasuke struggled against the invisible hands of fear as the sands surged forward like tentacles of the Ichibii.

Above him, Sakura prayed. _Move it! Sasuke… you, you promised never to let your brother down…! Move!_ But his legs were jelly. _Come on… genjutsu. There must have been some genjutsu that Kakashi or Itachi taught you_. Sakura could feel her own hope slipping.

Sasuke's brain was on overdrive as the first sand crushed his leg. Blank.

Sakura's hands instinctively went to her mouth, most of the female population screeched. The voice that they knew so well escalated into a scream of agony.

Gaara laughed maniacally as his bloodied sand slipped off the dead Uchiha's face, crushed and mangled, with blood dripping off. He walked across his beloved sand, saying, "**_Take this from me, Kaa-san, be relinquished in his blood_**."

His green pupils contracted as his smile widened. He could feel his boots stepping on Uchiha Sasuke's legs easily; the bone had been crushed to fine bits. "Kaa-san, do you feel his blood now?"

_Chck. Chck. Chck-Chck- Chck- Chck- Chck- Chck- Chck- Chck- Chck-Chck---_

"Shi-ne, you demented sadist!" Sasuke shouted as he pressed his Chidori into Gaara's back. It was a low-powered one, but at such a close range, it would be enough. Sasuke started to unactivate his attack as soon as he felt hollowness. "Shit. How good is this guy?"

"Sabaku no Kyuu!"

To his horror, Sasuke felt Gaara's protective casing wrap around his arm. _Damn. Quick, Chidori. Don't fail me, Kakashi!_ The unactivating Chidori came on at full power immediately, driven by the full gales of Sasuke's chakra. "Desert Funeral!"

Sasuke smirked as the tight sand collapsed and spun around, his hands clasped together. "Katon! Gokakyuu no jutsu!"

"Sand!" Gaara screamed, building up three layers infront of him in case the Uchiha did irritating things again. Gaara shook in anger. _He's challenging my existence! He dares! I'll…I'll show him… that I'm the only one!_

Sasuke took advantage of Gaara's blindness to mentally control his defense. Sure, the Sand could move for itself, but he would be faster. Thanking Kakashi mentally for the back-breaking training, Sasuke hardly broke a sweat as he ran ahead of the three blasts of defensive walls, who crumbled to ashes at the Fireball technique.

Dodging more flares of Sand, Sasuke mule kicked Gaara into the air.

The stadium watched in awe as the infamous Sabuku no Gaara was thrown into the air and beat to the ground succesively in the blink of the eye. Sasuke had not even used the Shadow Leaf Dance.

Sasuke spin-kicked Gaara into the earth. "I'm not gonna give you time to run, racoon boy!"

"Lion Combo!"

The Konoha crowd went up in cheers, as if it had been a brilliant exhibition, not a fight. But the lower level ninja were nodding appreciatively. Hinata giggled when Kiba forced to keep down a look of admiration.

Sasuke stepped out of the crumbled earth, stumbling into the risky river waters. He breathed in the cooler air, sticking his hands into the water, forming seals. Even if he was sure that Gaara was gone, there was a chance that the sneaky mammal had sneaked off. He frowned at the too-still body of the Sand nin.

"Water clone no jutsu," Sasuke muttered disappearing into the water himself, letting his water clone into the air.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gaara climbed out of the pit shakily, his gourd gone, his protective shields gone. "**_I'm still high on chakra, Uchiha! I can still get your sorry ass! I apologize, Kaa-san, but I assure you, I will appease you with his blood. You will taste it!"_**

Kankurou shuddered at the demented look pasted on Gaara's face. That was his brother, different from Temari or him. _Different, but not wrong_. Kankurou told himself, chanting the mantra. They were siblings. The least he could do was try to be one, even though Gaara was not. Then again, he should not be thinking about humanity.

_Humanity is for the weak._ Gaara had said coldly when they were very young. Kankurou stumped out of his thoughts when he saw Gaara face the sky laughing maniacally. Why was he feeling all sorry for Gaara now? Gaara would only be angry…

Gaara lifted his hands to the sky, very well aware that Uchiha Sasuke was both underwater and on water. He was very well aware that the kazekage sitting next to the hokage was not his father, but an imposter. He was very well aware that he could have stopped the disgusting scum from murdering the kazekage, but he had not. He was very well aware that very soon, he would do what he was born… no cursed to do. _I need… to prove my existence. Father… your death has provided me with the very opportunity to vanquish one people.._

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Now that Sakura felt the Sand ninja's killing intent, maybe she should be worried. Excusing herself, Sakura left the front row seats and exited through the door. Kakashi still had his arms folded, only half a mind on Sasuke as he watched Sakura from the corner of his eye.

It was when he looked past Sakura's pink locks when he finally spotted the suspicious figure. Kakashi had felt the intense presence, but had been waiting for the excuse to look around. In a black ANBU cloak, with a cat mask that was that of a desceased member. Kakashi touched his ear, casually brushing the mechanical part attached to it so that he was on air. The professional ventriloquist, he muttered, "Gai, Asuma, Kurenai. I have our man. Black cloak, cat mask, seven o'clock, twenty feet from my position. Over."

"Got it. My age old rival, the fiery passion has finally touched you. Over."

"Yeah, I'll be the woman with a cigarette Expensive dress. Over."

"I'll report it to the hokage right away. Over and out."

Kakashi sweated at the first two statements. His head returned to Sasuke's match, but his eyes slid to a beautiful hottie that had just taken a seat near to the ANBU imposter. She was puffing on a cigarette casually.

Sakura disappeared through the door, feeling a shiver of apprehension as she passed a ANBU member. Powerful, and creepy.

She needed something hot to hold.

Sakura pushed in two coins from her purse and selected a mocha from the vending machine. As it mixed the coffee from different nozzles, Sakura lent on the wall, listening to the spectators outside gasp and scream.

"Go for it, Sasuke-kun!" A bunch of fan girls shouted. Sakura smiled. Once upon a time she would have been with them. Funny how one month can seem like years. I feel old.

Sakura collected the paper cup and made her way down the stairs and another half-hidden staircase into the participant's waiting room.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Kazekage reached deep into his cloak pocket, then drew two powerful smoke bombs. He was about to throw it into the middle of the arena when Sarutobi caught his wrist. Pulling the Kazekage forward, Sarutobi twisted the captured wrist and spin kicked the man away. The Kazekage grunted from his fallen position and adjusted the dislodged bone with a snap of pain.

Shrugging off the large kage hat, Orochimaru revealed himself to his former master.

Sarutobi gave a bitter smile, determination etched in his eyes. He pulled his cloack off and let it drift to the stands far below. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at the battle suit. "You've been expecting me, Sarutobi?"

Sarutobi put own hand behind his back, performing one-handed seals. He said, "I would be a poor sensei not to know his student's mind. Yours was always the easiest to read, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru dropped his sinister façade and frowned. "This is how you irked me, Sarutobi."

"I told you I was a good mentor… Wind Slash no jutsu!"

The ground before the Sandaime split from an invisible torpedo, cutting from his feet towards Orochimaru. Flashing through hand seals in time, Orochimaru shouted, "Ninpou! Snake's Beard no jutsu!"

"Doton Stampede no jutsu!"

"Sonic Blade no jutsu!"

"Katon! Housenka no jutsu!"

"Mystic Storm no jutsu!"

Simultaneously, Orochimaru and Sarutobi bit their thumbs, drawing blood. Flecks of blood trailed as they slammed their thumbs into the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

The Konoha Invasion had begun.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto and Rukawa looked up as Sakura entered the room. The temperature rose sharply.

"Sakura," Naruto said dumbfoundedly._ Sheesh. That's one hot body…_

_Oh my sheesh! What am I saying! But that body's really cute. Shit! Shut up Naruto!_

"Shut up, fox!"

The entire room turned to look at the blond haired boy. Laughing sheepishly, Naruto said, "It seems like a lot has changed in one month, Sakura."

"In other words, you mean my body, Naruto?" Sakura said seductively. The simmering cup of mocha was as hot as Naruto's burning face now. After two seconds, Naruto had the hotter face. World Record. Rukawa could have thrown confetti.

"Yes.. I mean no! No! I meant no!" Naruto stuttered out as he threatened to puke.

Rukawa looked from Naruto and Sakura and caught what he meant. With her leaner body, the pink hair went well with her tanned skin, and her chest appeared_…fuller_. Muffling a blush, Rukawa pointed a thumb at Sakura's paper cup. "That for me?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and smiled. This time, a mild blush really came on, and Sakura downed the scalding cup in one gulp. "No."

Rukawa got up in a flash and whipped out a kunai. In one swift but fluid motion, he slit Sakura's throat.

It was approximately this time that Sakura stepped into the room with a cup of mocha in her hands.

The coffee splashed to the floor as the paper came to a rest at Rukawa's feet. Sakura watched dumbfounded as she saw Rukawa's maddened eyes, the blood that was splattered on his face. She had seen him kill her without hestitation… he looked like he actually enjoyed it! Sakura took a step back uncertainly. She saw Rukawa look up at her. The glint in his steely eyes had not quite faded.

"Are you okay, Sakura?"

Sakura edged out of the room, her green eyes widened in fear. A monster had talked. Naruto got from his couch and took her arm. She recoiled from his touch, then welcomed it when she recognized Naruto.

Other than them, the room was empty, echoing with hastened footsteps from above. Neji and Temari were in the healings wards, Kankurou, Sasuke, and Gaara were out at the arena fighting a war. The three of them had not left yet.

Sakura stared into Rukawa's eyes. The dark orbs had a touch of uncertainty; holding a tint of fear. She watched his mouth move. "Sakura."

Whether it was a question or a statement, Sakura did not know, but Naruto shook her and said, "Sakura, that was an enemy impersonating you, it was only right that Rukawa killed him. It's a war now, I know you know that. We have to help our comrades in battle, that's what Itachi-sensei has been teaching us, right? Teamwork."

Sakura looked at Rukawa's uncertain eyes once more before she tore her gaze away and nodded to Naruto. "Right."

Naruto motioned at the broken window that Kankurou had shattered. "Let's go!"

The three of them took a running leap out onto the battlefield. Ninjas were dropping from the stands either dead or fighting. Sakura ducked away from Kurenai's fight and did a low drop kick to a Sound kunoichi who had leapt away from a Leaf Jounin, who took up the opportunity to spear her in the heart.

Sakura twisted around sharply. Taking a running leap, she kneed a sand ninja and stabbed him with two kunais. Suddenly, a shadow passed over her face. Looking up, Sakura did some handseals and shouted, "Katon! Ryuuka no jutsu!"

Rukawa, Sasuke, and Naruto gaped as a full-blown dragon fire technique barbequed a sound nin. Their mouths did not hang open for long, because a man behind shouted, "Thunder melody!"

A sonic blast ripped through the air in a twang. Luckily, their jaws had been slack, if not their teeth would have been shattered. The ground crumbled up, opening to reveal a crevass of a lava. Molten rock melted before their eyes, and several ninja fell in. Rukawa looked over at the large hulk standing over the edge.

_Having done such a powerful jutsu, he'd be an easy kill._ Rukawa motioned over to Naruto. _Kill him._

Naruto nodded confidently and leapt over the widening gap. He pulled out two sais, twirling them expertly before dodging around the large man. The sound nin shouted, "Sonic Blast!"

The man slammed a palm into Naruto's small frame, shattering the bone. Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, his original form appearing behind the large man. With speed not usually connected with a man with such build, the man swivelled around and jumped away. As he sailed over the crevasse, Sasuke drew his Fuuma Shuriken and hurled it at him.

The large blade sliced through the torso and returned to Sasuke's outstretched hand. The weightlifter split into two, and the pieces fell into the crevasse like slabs beef. "Nice move, Naruto."

Naruto flushed with radiant joy and killed two Sand genins after that.

Sasuke landed neatly beside him. "I've got three!"

Naruto gave one man an upper cut before forming some hand seals. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

All the Narutos kicked enemy genin into the air in a flash, before leaping up behind their flailing bodies. Double kicking them in two flips, Naruto dispelled his clones as the genin crashed to the floor with kunais sticking out of their necks. "Read my lips, Sasuke. Seven."

Sasuke grunted and performed several hand seals. "Shuriken Homing no jutsu!"

The shurikens that had spun to the floor earlier when Sasuke had thrown them were suddenly powered up with chakra and sheathed into several ninja's necks easily. The jugular vein. Obviously, they died at the fountain of blood spurting from their necks. Sasuke smirked at Naruto's awed look and said, "I was planning to use it on Gaara, but, well… Eight."

"Nooooo!"

With that, the genin hopped around the arena, climbing up onto the stands, then onto the roof, before jumping back down onto the ground, fighting in tandem but claiming kills, though not killing as easily as earlier, since they had lost the advantage of surprise..

Meanwhile, Rukawa had led Sakura out onto Konoha's streets to aid their fellow genins. Rukawa followed Sakura into the array and said, "Sakura, Itachi has taught you a lot, right?"

Sakura nodded.

Rukawa smirked and said, "Then, it's time you put your effort to use."

Sakura and Rukawa fought back to back, fending away ninjas using jutsus with such good teamwork that could be passed off as chuunin or jounin. Sakura battled with two long kunais and pyro jutsus, using an occasional genjutsu, but evaded melee combat. Rukawa covered her slower and sloppy moves, Sharingan and Rai bloodlimits activated and ready to kill.

At last, they had cleared part of the road. Rukawa tugged at Sakura's sleeve. "The rest of them can handle this. The west district seems to be taking a lot of damage."

Nodding, they disappeared into thin air.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto flicked sweat off his face lightly and grinned ferally at Sasuke. "Twenty-five."

Sasuke downed two more ninja and straightened. "Thirty."

"Tch. Dammit. Hey, Sasuke, how come the ninjas we meet are so weak?"

"Dobe. This is a full-blown invasion, of course the enemy's entire workforce would be employed. They'd have genins, remember? Anyway, the Chuunins and upper levels on our side have picked out the more powerful ninjas, leaving the midgets to genin like us. It's natural."

"I never knew there was such planned things."

"Art of war, dobe."

"Grr."

Sasuke smirked at the team of Sand Genin that appeared in front of him. He recognised them to be one of the teams that had left the examination room before the tenth question. He smirked. _Easy pie._

"Naruto, leave these to me. There are two teams on our left."

"Claiming glory, Sasuke?" Naruto commented before leaving.

Sasuke performed handseals before jamming his hand downwards. "Raikiri!"

The Sand Genin yelled war cries and pulled out hooked kunai and charged. Sasuke's Sharingan captured their blundering movements perfectly before he dashed forward, pulling his chakra attack through them cleanly, blood flashing through the air in thick wads.

Keeping his Raikiri activated, Sasuke continued to charge through the stadium at full speed, climbing up the walls into the stands, helping the outnumbered become even. Deactivating the chidori, Sasuke hurled two shuriken at an enemy ninja before joining with another chuunin to fight off another three Sound ninja.

They took turns in offense and defense, flashing through the air, beams of fire or claws of wind techniques sprouting from the blur of movement. Finally, Sasuke gave the last ninja a flying spinning kick before stretching his body upwards, letting his temporary partner run below him and cut down the Sound nin.

"Nice working with you, kid," the Chuunin panted.

Sasuke grinned back wearily before they engaged in fight again. He looked down at the stadium. Naruto was handling himself very well, and had gotten shadow clones to help him, but the work was almost done here, there were only a few enemy ninjas trickling in over the walls.

Jumping and landing beside the real Naruto, Sasuke looked at the blond with his Sharingan. "We need to go. The west district seems to be in the worst condition."

Naruto nodded, and they jumped off, leaving his clones to fight.

Sasuke bristled once they had crossed Central. The sun still hung brightly in the sky, but there was no warmth. It was as if the heat had been blocked out, leaving nothing but icy cold to chill his skin. The clear, bright day, with muffled heat, was far too unnatural.

"Sasuke, this cold. Either a very powerful genjutsu, or just pure killing intent fused with chakra," Naruto deduced seroiusly. Sasuke nodded and replied, "Yes, either Sannin or Kage level for the jutsu part. Highly unlikely, judging from how they were fighting just now. I take your second option."

Then they bordered the West District, and flaming arrows flew over them, striking wood or human flesh. There was an almost distant clash of swords, but there were ronin fighting directly below them. Sasuke frowned. Then there were screams of agony, sizzling or chakra dispersions, all in the same blurry quality.

Sasuke's frown deepened, and they stopped at an unharmed rooftop. Then two figures landed beside them. Naruto greeted Sakura and Rukawa, who said, "I've scouted the area. We have to fight as a complete team now. Up ahead is a demon form of Gaara, like a fully unleashed Naruto. Then there are powerful Suna ninjas around him, plus what seems to be Orochimaru's most powerful ally who is not ninja. Probably a ronin organisation which is really good. Let's go, remember, we're a team."

Sasuke nodded and said, "Okay. So, who do we go for?"

"The ronin. There are teams of ANBU handling the Suna groups and Gaara. Itachi and his team is there, against Gaara. It's best we do not interfere; the teamwork is their weapon."

Sakura and Naruto nodded, and they hopped off the roof simultaneously into the mass of ronin. Konoha's samurai and ronin were good, but no match for the Sound's force, which was far larger and skilled. With the new team of genin, they took on one platoon of Sound swordsmen and started to pick each one off carefully and slowly, sliding under swords, landing brief hits before drawing kunai to collect slashes or jabs.

Naruto did a handseal and shouted, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Eight Narutos appeared and took over Team Seven's opponents. Then Naruto, Sakura, and Rukawa performed a genjutsu on the Narutos, who defended against blood thirsty men. Sasuke did his final hand seals and shouted, "Katon! Flame Rings no jutsu!"

Team Seven leapt into the air as Sasuke's attack sent rings of flame cascading into the ronin like a tsunami. Rukawa twisted his body to evade a flurry of arrows. _Good, that attack took about a minute or more. We still have time_. The four of them somersaulted, drawing long knives, cutting down arrows, before they flipped into the unarmed shooters, slitting throats. These shooters were positioned behind a low wall of sandbags. Behind them was another row of marksmen, who had already reloaded.

Sakura flashed through seals and put her hand to her mouth. "Katon! Housenka no jutsu!"

Three marksmen fell under the fire balls. Meanwhile, Sasuke disarmed a shooter skillfully and strung the bow. He concentrated Wind Elemental chakra to the arrow and released it. The arrow blew through three hearts, blood splattering so freely that it blinded a shooter.

Naruto took advantage of his relapse and stabbed him with his long knife. Then he twisted around to backhand another, straight into Sakura's knife, before butterfly kicking another away.

Rukawa did a set of handseals so fast that his fingers were a blur. "Doton Spears no jutsu!"

Stalagmites of earth sprouted from the ground and pincered the remaining marksmen. Rukawa brushed blood from his cheek and faced his teammates. "We have to move on to another place. With all these arrows and stray katana, the jounin and ANBU won't be able to fight their best."

Sasuke nodded and let the way to the rooftop trapdoor. Placing his ear to the ground, Sasuke heard footsteps and voices. Then he performed some hand seals and slammed his crossed palms into the wood. "Wind cutter no jutsu!"

A destructive beam of cutting air destroyed the trapdoor and the ronin waiting on the steps, disfiguring the tattered corpses. Sasuke descended the steps quickly, his team following suit. Secret operations style, Team Seven searched each room of the large house carefully, killing any enemy, even freeing two hostages. The operation was so smooth and proffesional due to Itachi's ANBU teachings. Then they were out onto the chaotic street, fighting against men whom they had never met.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kankurou conciously stayed away from the West District, where all the demonic destruction was. Instead, he was fighting along side his sister and sensei in the East District. He had been the one to lead them there, and he had a feeling that his more passionate sister was angry at him for leaving their brother.

But Gaara was currently not his brother, but a full fledged Jinchuukri who was out of control, enjoying the taste of blood, the bloodbath. The East and South District was full of specialist ninjas, and techniques of advanced bloodlines were savaging the land.

They were currently against the Aburame family, a clan of only three men and a kunoichi, one of them was Aburame Shino, who Kankurou was fighting. Temari, as usual, was against the kunoichi. Temari was handling herself well even though she was not up to standard; the healers had not been able to return her to full strength until she was forced to slay them when the war started.

Temari laughed as she killed a whole bunch of the disgusting mites with five swipes of her battle fan. She was half-crazy, over leaving Gaara by himself, and for losing her fight against a small kid. Killing the masses really soothed her, if masses could be considered as bugs. Masses of humans would have made her sick.

Her opponent looked ready to either die of grief or go stir-crazy and kill Temari, which was all to Temari's advantage. Certain ninjas were just too emotional over pets… _like children_, she though derisively.

"Ninjas aren't meant to be childish, girl," Temari taunted at the older woman. Aburame Yuri frowned allowed even more bugs to fly out from her long, baggy sleeves. She was Jounin, but because of recent injuries and a mission, she was low on chakra and was slow on the uptake. The Suna girl, only genin, was only irking her beyond control. If only she could slap Temari until blood spurted.

Temari chuckled. Her tactic was working. She waited until Yuri was almost within attacking range when she waved her fan.

Shino blocked Kankurou's backhand and caught a glimpse of the Suna kunoichi dealing a deadly blow to his cousin.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Pain is not without reason," Kakashi said calmly, tearing the man's forearm deeply with a curved kunai. Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma were covering him, fending or killing any enemy ninja which came along.

Kabuto groaned as he felt the curved tip gouge his ligaments. "This, won't get you anywhere, Kakashi-san." He tried to force a sneer, but failed. "You won't get anything out of me."

Kakashi drove the kunai steadily into the elbow bone and with a wrench, worked the forearm off. He let Kabuto see the bloodied, broken arm and put the fingers at the younger shinobi's neck. Kabuto shivered and spasmed in pain. Kakashi then dislodged a vial from his pocket and poured its bitter contents down Kabuto's throat. The truth serum was effective, but extremely deadly.

The researches of the Sannin Tsunade had stopped ever since she left. Only a few ninja now, including Kakashi, could postpone the effects for a moment. His Sharingan's genjutsu could numb the mind, and in effect, slur the victim's heartbeat.

"It appears, Kabuto, that you failed to realised the true meaning of pain. I have no choice but to waste resources here." Easily, Kakashi kept his knee on Kabuto's groin as he lifted his head protector, revealing a spiralling Sharingan. _Fall under my doujutsu… now._

Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma shivered at Kabuto's piercing screams, then the silence, then the babbling of complez plans, unaware that how they shaved the lives off their opponents was just as brutal.

Kakashi broke his genjutsu and snapped Kabuto's dead neck with a sharp twist and said to his teammates, "I'm done here. The Sound Five will be at the west wing at around… now."

Grinning, his teammates disappeared after his image.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke, Rukawa, Naruto, and Sakura landed lithely on the brickwork. It was the Tengi Square, and on the intricate tiles were blood, lost limbs, and bodies. Over the gruesome artwork danced clans of ronin, with so many uniforms that Sakura almost lost who was one which village's side.

Sasuke saw the graceful, but quick movements of sword and spear at one glance and came to his conclusion, "This is the elite clans, as fast as us and probably more experienced. They won't be easy prey. We have to use more jutsus now."

At a decisive signal, they flipped over the roof and crashed down onto the Enomoto clan of the Hidden Sound.

Rukawa powered his Sharingan to level three grimly. It would be a long battle.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Oh man, thanks for all of the reviews! I was so happy that I was high for a long time. Sorry for this slow update, I had a math test, and I didn't want to keep Sasuke's fight bad. And… something feels wrong about this chapter, as if its longwinded or something.

But I hope the fight wasn't too short, because I was trying to make the battle seem fast and powerful. The hard part was making Sasuke much better but not like a superpower. The Wind element thing about Sasuke is sort of based on the newest chapters of the manga, like when Kakashi is teaching Naruto how to make a new move. I guess that even though Sasuke has the Chidori, he should be Wind because the Uchiha fan symbol symbolises wind, and wind only makes fire even stronger. Kakashi taught Sasuke a lot, and Sasuke managed to master so much because he's known as a prodigy.

Sakura might have become more powerful, but she freaked out when Rukawa killed her imposter because she wasn't quite ready. Naruto. I didn't bring Kyuubi into this, and I guess I haven't been writing much about his newly aquired stealth, but his skills are there.

Konoha ninja might seem too powerful for Suna and Sound ninja, but that's not true. Like I explained, Konoha has a tatical fight, and Team Seven is the most powerful genin in Konoha currently, if not they wouldn't be in the Third Test at all.

There was a review about how the Third Hokage shouldn't die since he knows that Orochimaru is there, and I agree with that. A Hokage and a sensei of a kage should be really powerful, so that's it. As for Jiraiya coming in, that will be sometime later.

I included ronin and bandits because they seem to have to be in a world like Naruto, though they're weak compared to ninja because of the lack of chakra.

Itachi had almost no space here; I'm saving the next chapter for him, which will also be about Gaara. I hope it didn't seem as if I disliked Gaara in this chapter, but he did have some mental problems in the manga, and if Kyuubi was a tyrant, then Gaara should be super powerful instead of being a runt, so I wanted to potray that.

This chapter feels like the worst I've done, but it won't happen for the other chapters ever again.

Please review, it's really appreciated, and I go really crazy. See you in the next chapter!


	11. Chapter Ten Demon Sucker

**Disclaimer: Do I own Naruto? Am I Masahi Kishimoto? No.**

Thanks for all, I mean all, the reviews! I'd screen a video of my hysterical dances here every time I see a review, but that's not possible.

Still, I can screen these! **Edengrave, sn1ck3rD00dl3, aknut, 2stupid, MagusKyros, katie, Cornett, noearthlyclue, Doomforyou, itachiuchiaismine, Kisses.In.The.Rain, me.**

P.S. **me** isn't me. It's a reviewer. And thanks to **Edengrave **for the very long reviews!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter Ten—Demon Sucker**

Gaara swerved his head left and right, almost oblivious to the pain as it's left side slowly evolved, soft sandy flesh covering his own. He sneered maliciously at the ANBU team that surrounded him as sand billowed.

"The sand is my home. You vermin shall be crushed under kaa-san's hands," Gaara intoned slowly.

ANBU Team Eight had been caught by surprise. The sand was almost faster than they were. Had he been feigning weakness during the Chuunin Exam? And what was this weird tingle in the air. One ANBU operative looked down at his shoulder for the source of the itch.

Sand…!

In that instant of sandly flume, four members had died grievously under the Desert Funeral. Most of them were injured, no matter a crushed finger or a mangled face. But they could not escape, Gaara gave them no chance, enclosing them in an invisible chakra prison which was steadily contracting. He was toying with them, they had long realised. If he had an opening, he could always close the prison and kill them all in an instant.

But if they could just lay a hand on him, it would be enough for reinforcements.

Sand exploded around them, sprouting from under ground. ANBU operative Mouse saw a flicker of sand come his way. He was off balance, having just dodged a dirt missile. He raised his arms in front of him. It scraped his arms as he twisted. When he was back on his feet, the guards strapped to his forearm sprinkled like white ash to the ground. He turned his arms over, where blood was pouring. The flesh had disintergrated. He could see the marrow of his bones.

He had swayed a second too long. Gaara's sand was upon him immediately.

ANBU Team Eight's captain Hyuuga Hiashi spared a second of anguish when he pounced onto Gaara's evolving monster arm. "Third Eye Gentle Fist!"

He felt the mass dissolve and splatter, and kicked Gaara's head, propelling himself away. Sands that reached for him fell under his Kaiten technique.

As Hiashi escaped, the remaining ANBUs charged in, baring weapons of their advanced bloodlimits or original jutsus.

Hiashi had his back to the special operatives, but his Byakugan saw everything. He saw his men charge in, he saw the Jinchuukri's chakra suddenly explode. His was flung off ground, landing on his arms, but his Byakugan still saw all. There were no more operatives. Gaara's chakra prison had not even acted, it had just disappeared. In his rage, Gaara had sent hands of sand to clench over the operatives. At the brunt of the demonic power, their flesh had already melted as the fists tightened, allowing blood vapor to dye the air.

Hiashi stood up, his broken Sloth mask slipping over his sweat-slick face. He had worked with them for too long, his face could not maintained composed, his robes were in tatters from various injuries, but how could they be compared to annihilation?

A gloved hand rested on his shoulders. He saw who it was without looking round.

"We can take it from here," Uchiha Itachi said. Hiashi shook his head. "A true ninja never shuns."

Itachi nodded in decisive understanding, "Very well. Don't get in the way."

"This is a Hyuuga you're talking to, Uchiha."

Itachi smirked as his team dispersed to evaded more cannonballs of blood-red sand.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been thirty minutes since Itachi's team had first confronted the Suna Demon Priest, and yet, Gaara's arm had grown back, his clothes had burst as he grew into a full-blown Shukaku.

Needless to say, most of Team Three had been destroyed, leaving only the best; Uchiha Itachi, Hyuuga Hiashi, and Ranmaru Kenji.

"Great plan, Uchiha, now we're outnumbered again," Hyuuga Hiashi spat, frustration building up. He was on the floor, an accessory that hampered the real deal.

He still had his left arm, but he was sure the bones and ligaments were severely injured, explaining his pain. What he could not comprehend though, was why he was sitting on the roof, away from the fight, when most of the two best ANBU teams were dead.

"Actually, it's two to one," Itachi retorted, sweat pouring down his brow. The Demon Priest was smarter and more powerful than he had thought. Where are the reinforcements? Ten seconds, and the three of us are gone.

"This is a demon, dammit! This is a Seventh-Of-A-Kyuubi scale war! We should be dead, and helped," Kenji joked lamely as he tore mouldy flesh off Gaara.

They could not see the demon's head or body now, it had covered itself with armours of sand and its great 'furry' tail.

Kenji dodged an attack and yelled, "Itachi! Use your Amaretsu!"

Itachi ignored him and continued to mutter into his mouth piece, "This is Uchiha Itachi, calling for reinforcements against Suna Jinchuukri in the West District… This is- "

There was nothing but choppy static.

"Kaa-san. You have not tasted good blood for a long time. But I have found a good prey. I am a filial son," Gaara muffled behind the growing meat. Over time, his voice had grown more agitated, as if he was losing control.

Two seconds. We're still alive.

"Itachi!"

"Mangekyou Sharingan! Amaretsu!" Itachi opened his eyes forcefully, and the Demon Priest burst into black flames. Itachi unactivated his Kaleidoscope Sharingan immediately. Against a demon that large and of that repelling power, his chakra reserves were down by three-quarters.

He had not wanted to risk it. If the Shukaku was anything like Kyuubi, it had regeneration powers, albeit much less effective.

His black fire had already shorted out, and the demon was rising from useless pulp again. At least I bought us three seconds.

Itachi lifted two fingers and motioned over to a collage of mountains. There was no sand there, only stone, and more stone. Takekutaa Mounts. It was the best quarantine place they currently had.

Kenji nodded behind his Jaguar mask and picked up Hiashi, and together, the two of them made their way there.

Itachi went in the other direction, towards a row of shophouses where swords clashed. Hopefully, the blood that Hiashi was oozing would draw the demon away for awhile.

Running below many swords and spears, he came to a pink haired kunoichi. "Sakura, no time to explain… Get Team Seven to the Takekutaa Mounts. Find Team Kakashi, somewhere along the Chuunin Finals stadium, tell them that Shukau has been released at the Mounts. Now."

Sakura watched as her sensei turned around and ran again, disappearing through the many folds of fluttering robes. Confused but determined, she fought her way to the rest of her team and told them the situation, they nodded and left.

Naruto crossed both hands for a Mass Shadow Clone Technique, but Rukawa shook his head. "Conserve your energy. If Shukaku is growing, that means that Kyuubi needs all it's going to need. A few lives lost here will be nothing compared to a demon in full control. Sakura, go, quickly."

Sakura nodded and ran through hand seals, disappearing into a flume of smoke.

Rukawa took a ball from his pocket and threw it into the crowd of fighting ronin. "One exploding bomb, I guess I can waste that. Let's go."

They escaped just as the ball hit ground and exploded.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto could feel the tension welling inside of him before they even ascended Takukutaa Mounts. It was a small circle of mountains that surrounded one large lake, frozen even under a bright sun. Several kanji were carved upon its banks. Many a time Leaf Jounins had tried to erase the markings, but to no effect.

They said that a sea monster lived beneath the large crust of ice. Naruto had always scoffed, but now that he was on it, the fable did not seem so mythical anymore.

"Naruto," Sasuke called out. "Gaara may be a demon, but you've got the Kyuubi. No matter how much we, especially you, dislike it, Shukaku can only be defeated if the Kyuubi comes out. Demons are defeated by demons. You may not be the demon, but you have the demon. We need your power, Naruto."

Naruto grinned reassuringly. Sasuke had misread his fear, but at least his friend had given him confidence. It was true. Konoha needed him now. He would prove his worth and his loyalty now. Thank you Gaara, for giving me this opportunity. Kyuubi!

**Need help, kid?**

Yeah. Finally have some entertainment for you. Shukaku. One Tails. You know the guy, right?

**Oh, that dumb demon. A real brat. He has power like all of us, and more guts than any of us, but intellectually challenged… compared to me.**

Ooh, what confidence. Then you'll help me?

**A demon does not help. I'm merely using you.**

Naruto grinned at the denial. Okay then… fox.

Naruto felt the whiskers on his face thicken and his eyes suddenly became aware of every detail in the stone that he was ascending. Very soon, Sasuke and Rukawa were trailing behind him. They were almost at the mouth of the Mounts.

Naruto stopped and waited for his teammates to catch up.

"So, what's the plan?" Naruto asked, surprised that he was still hearing his voice. He had expected the Kyuubi's.

"Aniki will be fending off Shukaku. We don't have time. Rukawa and I will create a distraction to lead it away from Itachi, then you'll jump him, and we'll leave it to you."

"Good plan. Let's go," Rukawa murmured. They hopped over the mouth and hurtled downwards, using chakra as their only control. Naruto stayed behind, standing on the tip of the mountain.

As dark colours of granite sped by, Rukawa performed several handseals while saying to Sasuke, "Power up your Sharingan and Chidori, Sasuke, and keep it there. Hope to get level three, and get your Chidori at its best. We're talking about a Kyuubi equivalent. There's a ninety-nine percent chance that Itachi is dead and so will we be. Our only mission is to get it distracted, you hear me?"

Sasuke nodded and powered up a burning Chidori.

"Even if you see Itachi, me, or anyone else on the verge of death, don't do any stupid life saving thing. Carry out with your mission, and then continue to fight. It's war. Casualties are normal."

Sasuke nodded as his Sharingan came on, soaking his dark irises. Both boys turned back as they were upon the still-growing Gaara-Shukaku form. Sasuke saw a movement behind a large boulder, a form smacking against the stone and laying still.

The undone ponytail, the familiar shirt. Sasuke hardly had time as a wave of chakra threw him off his feet when all that fitted his mind was his older brother.

He was sure that Rukawa had seen Itachi. If so, he showed no signs of it, continuing his charge downwards. Rukawa was at his fastest, only a tiny shimmer, the landscape of boulder and rock hardly blemished. The only telltale was the glowing charges of electricity.

Sasuke tried to stand up, but his ankle was wedged between two rocks. How had it gotten there in the first place? Then he felt the sharp striking pain when he moved. It was either twisted terribly or broken. Sasuke deactivated his Chidori and wrested three painkillers from his medical pouch, popping the pills into his mouth.

With a simple release of chakra, the Kyuubi had done so much damage to him. Was this what the many ninjas felt when they fought the nine demons? Did they experience the same terror.

With no vessel, Sasuke thought, it was probably much worse.

Sasuke swore once, then cursed again. Here he was stuck, safe from death, all because of his stupidity, and now Rukawa was alone. He looked up. Naruto was still standing there, red chakra enamating. Still communicating strategies with Kyuubi, waiting for the perfect time.

Sasuke heard a ghostly scream, and turned to Shukaku, most of its leg was gone, ripped off by Rukawa's most powerful bloodlimit attack. The severed limb thudded on the ground.

Sasuke felt admiration and respect for Rukawa admist the fear. To conquer such killing intent, he was a ninja. If so, then what was he, Uchiha Sasuke? A mere genin?

Rukawa was turning around again, but a whip made of chakra caught him in the stomach and threw him into the mountains. Sasuke heard a crunch as Rukawa tumbled down, limp. Sasuke screamed out Rukawa's name, fear coming up again. He looked frantically at the sky. Do something, Naruto! Please!

Naruto was gone.

Vrrrrboooom!

Sasuke turned down again. Naruto, bubbling with scalding chakra had banged into Gaara, a chakra-formed claw striking the Shukaku's side. Disabled by the still regenerating leg, Shukaku made to bite the chakra Kyuubi, But Naruto leapt away with inhumane speed before pivoting around and laying all of his tails onto the Shukaku, pummeling it to the ground in a second. Then Naruto was off again, speeding away on all fours up the mountains as the Shukaku chased after him, its leg regained.

Shukaku crouched down and jumped.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled. But Naruto could fend for himself now, for three lashes of red chakra whipped the falling Shukaku. Then Naruto turned around and used one of his imaginary tails to punch Shukaku, dispelling the bubbling raccoon form's abdominals.

Flashes of yellow and red flared throughout the dome. Faraway, it seemed like fireworks within the cursed mountains, but from within its bowels, it was like a horrible parody, a beautiful clash of colours as blood splattered across the mountains.

Sasuke decided that Naruto was in control now, and made to removed the rock. He took out his Fuuma Shuriken, spasming at every movement. Using the weapon as a lever, he tucked it under the rock that was on his foot and counted to three, dreading imminent pain.

"One. Two. Three!" The rock flew out, just as his ankle gave so profound a pain that Sasuke fainted twice.

He tossed five more painkillers into his mouth and bandaged the broken ankle tightly. Snapping a thick piece of wood growing from the mountain, Sasuke propped himself up and edged downwards towards Rukawa, who was much nearer.

It took him about twenty minutes, oblivous to the fighting demons around him, before he finally approached the fallen form fearfully. Raising trembling fingers, fear clenched over his heart.

A prominent trail of dark blood was laid infront of Rukawa as he had richoted into the cracked stone. Deep gashes had torn across his side, arms, knee, and face. Now Sasuke saw it. The power enamating from the Shukaku had became invisible knives tearing across the air. Even with the Sharingan, these knives popped up from nowhere as long as it was within the demon's range. Sasuke did not think of what his brother looked like.

Blood was trickling down, and Rukawa was settled into the rock wall, his arms resting over protruding stone like armrests. When Sasuke took Rukawa off, it was like peeling skin off an orange. He was… dead. Sasuke checked for a pulse. It was faint. Faint. It was all his fault.

Frantic, hardly breathing, Sasuke ripped his medical pouch from his belt and took out the painkillers and blood replenishing pills and poured them into Rukawa's mouth. Please don't be dead. I know it's my fault, so don't die. Shit! Why is there blood? Why is there blood?

Almost senseless now, Sasuke tore his gaze away from the bloodied face, only to see the hole in Rukawa's abdomen. Blood was pouring from there. "Why didn't I see this? Shit! Shit! Shit! The damned blood pills aren't gonna work!"

Unfurling all the bandages he had coiled in his medical pouch, Sasuke wrapped it around Rukawa's torso quickly, jerking everytime he felt his fingers press against slippery blood or an open cut. The blood was soaking the bandage until Rukawa's stomach looked like a badly wrapped Christmas present.

Sasuke laughed dementedly. This was no Christmas.

"Don't die, you dumbass! Shit! Don't die!" Sasuke screamed. He needed to get away now. Taking up his crutch, Sasuke backed away from Rukawa's dying figure. He rounded many boulders before another figure reached his sight.

Itachi. Aniki. Brother.

Itachi was hardly recognizable now. Maybe dead, with so many cuts and blood spurting out. I don't care. Just stop the blood, it'll be fine. Stop the blood.

Rushing over as far as pain would let him, Sasuke did the very same for Itachi as he had with Rukawa, constantly chanting "Don't die" like a wild man. He was a wild man.

His eyes were burning with pain from the flowing tears. No, it wasn't the red tears. He could feel the power, the rawness. Naruto and Shukaku were now moving in slow motion. They were having some demented conversation he did not register. Every flicker of chakra caught his attention. Then his chakra depleted and his Sharingan disappeared. Sasuke looked at his brother, tears flowing freely down his grimy face.

Mangekyou Sharingan.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many minutes ago, Naruto had wanted to rush down the cliff and tear at Shukaku.

**Not now, brat. Can't have that. It's not time yet!**

But the raccoon bastard is tearing Rukawa up with chakra! I have to!

**You don't have to. His sacrifice will mount to nothing if you go now!**

Sacrifice… sacrifice! Let me go!

**No, you dumb pigeon!**

Damn you!

**NO!**

Naruto calmed down significantly after that, then he saw a powerful cord of chakra blaze through the air into Rukawa, and he knew he had to go.

**GO!**

Under Kyuubi's instruction, Naruto pitched forward and fell into Shukaku like missile against missile. His body cracked under the intense pressure, but Kyuubi immediately covered it up with super fast regeneration.

"Damn you, rat-faced freak!" Naruto yelled, bringing his arm forward. His arm extension, which was a fox-shaped chakra mould, ripped through the Shukaku's body as if it was merely a sponge cake and not infact protected by sand armour that was supposed to be able to block anything.

As first blood was drawn, Gaara found that the adverts Shukaku had posted in his brain were fraudulent. You stinking liar!

**There was small font at the bottom of the page.**

Whatever! Shit, he's coming… MOVE!

Gaara used his tail to swat Naruto's fox-arm away, before using his deformed jaws to clutch onto Naruto. All was nought when Naruto deftly shifted away and jumped out of reach.

Gaara surged forward, but suddenly, Naruto back flipped, unfurling all nine tails.

**Noooo! Hot cross buns!**

The tails slammed like fingers, nailing the screaming Shukaku into the iced lake. Gaara heard a growl behind him, a small murmur underneath the thick freeze and shivered. Then he remembered. Sand Lord, what did you mean by hot cross buns?

**That's Kyuubi's most infamous attack on lesser demons.**

You are inferior?

**No. In case you didn't notice, our leg is back. Let us savour demon blood.**

Gaara smiled and raced after Naruto, and they darted on the mountain walls like cyclists on a sloping race track. Gaara cackled and sent daggers of chakra flying at Naruto's back, only to see the yellow chakra disperse under armour of red power.

Naruto felt his powerful arms and legs leap from rock face to rock face as he talked with Kyuubi over strategies again. According the Kyuubi, it was lucky that they had no damage so far, and that the little attacks had lowered at least ten thousand chakra points.

Then his amber eyes slid over to a disfigured rock face with a bowed figure settled into it, and he lost it.

I'M GONNA KILL THAT BASTARD!

Naruto felt tears vaporise as his chakra increased tenfold. He whirled around to face the falling Shukaku, and unleashed pent up rage. Three claws shot out and caught Shukaku full in the groin. Screaming, Naruto slammed one of his tails into and through Shukaku again.

Gaara felt blood leave his mouth in a streak as his back smashed into pieces. Pain roared, then died down. Enraged, Gaara performed many handseals and shouted, "Dream State!"

Shukaku felt Gaara's dominating presence slide into the back of his mind and smirked evilly. Opening his mouth, Shukaku said, **"Kyuubi. Finally, I really get to play now!"**

"Dream on!" Naruto shouted and sent a ball of chakra at Shukaku, who received and repelled it with its own. Shukaku tackled Naruto to the ground and screamed gleefully.

Then Shukaku's hand sank into Naruto's form. "**Genjutsu…!"**

"Red Claw!" A voice shouted behind it. Naruto did a motion as if throwing a ball, sending three claws of burning fire into Shukaku.

**A demon's fight can be similar to a ninja's fight at times, this was one of them. An improvisation of the Uchiha Housenka Jutsu, patented by me, the great Kyuubi-sama**, Kyuubi thought aloud.

"You are disgusting, fox!" Naruto screamed over the roars of Shukaku and maybe himself. He and Gaara were hardly moving now, letting ropes of chakra and missiles of power clash against each other, giving defeaning twangs.

"Aren't we supposed to be serious instead of joking?" Naruto shouted over the chaos again.

**I am having a serious fight with Shukaku. In fact, my chakra is depleting fast. Our fight is not only physical, since demons are more than human punches. We are fighting mentally. Currently, I am trying to break through Shukaku's flimsy defenses.**

If its so flimsy, Kyuubi, I believe we'd be in now.

**Not true, you dumb, selfish human. It takes concentration keeping your puny brain under my defenses so that you won't go crazy and die from the pressure. I can't believe I'm even talking to you. Your stupidity makes me lose my concentration.**

Then Naruto shut up as commanded.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke hefted himself up onto one rock, then pulling, using only his hands, and flipping over to stop on another ledge. Panting heavily, he used his elbows to edge further, then grabbed onto another jutted stone and pulled up again.

He could hear his heartbeat thumping in his mind like a sick joke. The mountain's mouth seemed so far away. Why was he so slow?

He had always thought his power was self-sufficient, and yet now, he was useless to his dying brothers. Itachi his blood brother, Rukawa his friend-brother. Losing his family again, all alone because of his weakness.

Struggling to inflate his lungs and breathe out, Sasuke pulled himself further, muscles trembling hard from the effort.

His vision flashed with splattered blood, a hole in both bodies, the blank faces. Sasuke hauled himself up five more holds. He could feel his blood and water slick hands slip under the rock, and dug in further.

His climb was painstakingly slow. Crawling up inch by inch was too slow. If only his ankle was not broken…

Then a bang behind him sounded, the mountain shook, loose rock tumbling down. Sasuke felt something sharp slit his calf, before the rock he was clinging onto cracked and flipped over.

He landed on the ledge he had landed on, feeling something in his back pop, and darkness claimed him.

The last thing he felt was hopelessness of a boy five years ago.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura ran from roof to roof, dodging past kunais and shurikens, though one was lodged in her shoulder.

She swept away sweat from her chin and stopped to look around.

Then she saw it… the flash of green spandex and a white twinkle.

Picking up her pace again, Sakura jumped up and over a high wall onto the row of spectator stands. It was opposite of where she had been sitting earlier that day, everything was the same except that it was now a crater with ninja fighting in it. Kakashi was fighting with his white bone knife, flashing about, doing quite well against the tanned man with eight limbs puking spider webs.

Sakura inched her way cautiously around the crater's edge. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her around the neck and pulled her forward. She felt fingers clamp onto her throat. Looking downwards, she saw a hand growing out of the forearm holding her. It held a kunai.

Looking up again, Sakura saw Sarutobi Asuma stop in his tracks.

The man holding Sakura said, "Heh heh. I should just let you see the girl die. But if you let us kill you, I promise I'll let her go."

Asuma contemplated, then sighed through his nose, a smirk etched on his face.

Akon saw the bearded Konoha nin smirk. Before he could react, the shinobi had threw something. Akon felt his brother's sandaled foot reach out of his stomach to stop the blade and smiled. But then, the black knuckle blade thudded through the sandal, the foot, and his own body. Pain struck, and Akon felt his brother slide out of his body.

Akon lay, coughing at the hole in his stomach. Sakura massaged her neck, turning away from the visible hollow. She picked up the blood-dreched blade and handed it to Asuma, asking, "Wind element speciality? And thanks for saving me, Asuma-sensei."

"Yes, just be alert. Can't afford to make mistakes," Asuma replied gruffly. Then he pulled out two kunai and threw them, each pumelling into the centre of his two Sound nin opponent's foreheads.

Hearing the two strangled screams, Sakura jumped out of her reverie.

"Asuma-sensei!"

"W-what?" Asuma shouted, shocked. "Man, don't scare me!"

Did he really just kill two peope? Are we really ninja? Sakura asked herself at this weird conversation. Then she reported Itachi's words to him.

Asuma swore violently and tapped the handheld radio on his buckle. "This is Sarutobi… Damn this static! The enemy must have tapped out our communications. Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai! We need to go, now!"

"Heard you! Two demon-equivalents!"

"Kakashi, Asuma! Go on ahead. Kurenai and I will take care of these people," Gai said, his thick brows meeting.

Kakashi tucked the white blade into its holster as Gai's shadow clone took over him. Nodding curtly, he and Asuma left their comrades for the greater mission, following Sakura's red cloak, billowing back like a memory of fresh blood.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kimimaro was positioned in the Konoha borders. He had picked a bad spot, meeting with a patrol of Hyuuga special jounins. With their special dojutsu and graceful moves, he was losing four to one badly.

"Kaiten!"

"Thousand Palm!"

"Dance of the seven cranes!"

Blood shot and spurted. Kimimaro skid along the dirt road, panting. It is indeed to hard to follow four white eyes. Orochimaru-sama, I'm afraid this will be the last time I will serve you…

Then a black flash of fire lit up and dissolved the four Hyuugas. The figure landed on the ground, his purple sandals catching the gravel.

He wore a black cloack, embodied with bold red clouds. Kimimaro frowned slightly. The man had approached him before.

"Kimimaro-san, we can't have you dying now. This is the last time I'm proposing. If you reject now, I will kill you, which my power is perfectly capable of doing so easily," Uchiha Shisui said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto ducked under one chakra blast and took a running leap over two. He landed running. He could feel Kyuubi tiring. But if that was so, so was Gaara. But the sleeping Gaara was only a prick to the large demon, while Naruto was still himself with Kyuubi's chakra extensions.

**Blast it. I can't beat this crap if I'm only at thirty percent, brat. **

"No can do, you stinky fox! Just think of something! Rukawa said that if I let you have control this time, the seal will weake-!"

**Blast that dead prodigy! Blast the seal. Even if not for your life or mine, think about your stupid village! You don't want it destroyed, do you?**

"No!" Naruto yelled defiantly, feeling his flesh melt and regenerate all too quickly. He wanted to win.

Then Shukaku laughed. High pitched and awning. Apparently, shouting blonds amused him. But derisive laughter does not amuse those of the likes of Uzumaki Naruto. Growling, his previously iron-willed defiance was replaced with brute rage.

"Go, fox!"

Kyuubi grinned as Naruto slid into the space outside his cage. Naruto landed heavily on the clean floor. No more was his dungeon a defiled place, a place unfit for the king of demons. Sewage, huh!

Ever since Naruto had visited the place, the mental blocks were cleared, thus explaining the clean, good tiles. Even the rusty jail bars were now shiny chrome steel.

Naruto lifted his hands to space, allowing red chakra to wound around him. Immediately, the physical world came back on. But now, he felt as if he was occupying only a dot in his mind, watching the screens play for him.

He felt Kyuubi's hundreds of years of knowledge compare against his own. A mite. Naruto shuddered, then grinned along with Kyuubi as his body pummelled Shukaku's behind once, then another time, then again, this time punching through the hard flesh through the chest, yellow chakra and blood pouring out of the hold.

Naruto saw his finger lift at Shukaku's body, and then his mouth moved. **_"Ichibi, you really are weak, compared to me, even as I possess a small boy, while you are in full power."_**

Shukaku roared and started forward.

Naruto saw his lifted hand unclench to hold an invisible rod. The red chakra solidified at that spot and took form into a magnificent and powerful weapon. A sword.

Naruto crouched down as Shukaku came upon him, taking upon a samurai's stance. As the first bit of Shukaku landed, Naruto let out a war cry and thrust his sword forward.

Kyuubi, I do not shout like a savage.

Shukaku faded to the left, and dug its claws into the rock face, swinging his tail forward. Naruto twisted the flat of his blade up to catch the tail and swung, shaving off a peel of Shukaku's tail.

Before Shukaku could pull its tail out of the way, Naruto jumped onto the bloody hollow, throwing away his sword. Opening his jaws wide, Naruto sunk his pointy teeth and claws into the flesh and burrowed quickly.

This is getting disgusting. Am I actually tasting Shukaku? Eww. He's bad. Worse than spinach.

Biting and scratching a passageway through Shukaku's tail, Naruto finally tore through stomach flesh and jumped onto the acidic hollow. Outside, Naruto heard Shukaku yell in pain as gobules of flesh and blood fell through the shave and hollow in its tail.

Drenched in blood and saliva, Naruto felt his body jump into the air, and his fingers digging into the opening in the highest part of Shukaku's stomach organ. He knew this from science lessons… di…dia… esophagus!

Dimly catching on to what Kyuubi was doing, Naruto grinned ferally.

**That's right, brat. This is what I am, brutal, evil, and good at what I do.**

That is soooo random, fox.

**I'm just copying what you've been doing for the past few minutes.**

Naruto felt himself scramble up the squelchy tube of muscle, more of Kyuubi's chakra siphoning off everytime it had to regenerate Naruto's digesting flesh. But no matter. Only a small amount of chakra wasted.

Then he clambered into Shukaku's vast buccal cavity, and he was amazed, in the small space he now mentally occupied, and the many rows of teeth, the bloody, bitten tongue that was oozing of sand. Kanji was written on the roof of the mouth. A symbol made of kanji.

Mesmerised, Naruto watched as his hand held the glowing, unique sword once again, before Kyuubi-Naruto slammed the point of his sword through the symbol, out of the bone, and out of the centre of his forehead. Already, as the made first escape into fresh air, Naruto felt Shukaku's flesh disintergrating.

_Kyuubi! Get Gaara!_

Growling in affirmation, Naruto turned back and grabbed onto the awakened but now drained Gaara, and they landed behind the icy basin to the boulders, beside Sasuke.

With two weakened people by his side, Naruto felt himself weaken as Kyuubi let itself out of his physical system. It was awkward to feel his small frame of mind magnify into real time again.

**Quick brat, clone to get the other ninja. I can power up a dimension of defense over us, but not at different spots.**

Naruto immediately did the handseal for ten kage bunshins and let himself stay back as the clones ran around the boulders finding his master and Rukawa.

Ten seconds later, all ten clones landed beside Naruto on the ledge. Naruto was surprised to see an additional ANBU operative with a Jaguar mask and an adult Hyuuga. They were dead. Naruto felt tears leak from his eyes. He brushed them back, forcing his eyes to lock up the tears. _Ninja rule… never show emotion. Wonder what Rukawa would-_

Naruto's trail of thought broke off when he saw the bloody and torn form, covered in bandages.

Before he had time to speak, Naruto felt a cold wind rustle from no where, and then he saw red walls enclose around them like a cube.

Beyond Kyuubi's chakra walls, Naruto heard a loud twang of explosion, muffled by the powerful chakra Kyuubi had. Awed, Naruto stared as a white, long haired demon appeared, clothed in a one-piece of deathly white. In its mouth was a sharp dagger, inscribed with the kanji: death.

Shukaku was splitting into bars of light, all pointing from his demon inscription. As the death demon floated closer, the bars of light turned into black ice. The Sand Priest shook convulsively, melting away. Then the death demon unlatched pointed teeth from the dagger, souless hands taking the hilt, before the demon stabbed the Sand Priest and fit the whole contents into its large mouth, like a human would spear a dumpling with a fork and put it whole into his mouth.

Just as sudden as the eerie aura had come, it disappeared, and natural light flitted the Takakutaa Mounts again. Kyuubi released control over the chakra defense.

Naruto rushed over to Rukawa and dropped to his knees. Picking up Rukawa gently, he turned to race up the Mounts to the nearest medic station when his knees buckled.

He tried to stand, but could only realise: He could not move.

He felt so tired. _Rest… could be what I…_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakashi leapt into the Mounts as soon as the chakra barrier which stretched across the mouth of the cave. Sakura, Asuma, and Kurenai then followed.

Kakashi landed in front of Kenji. From the positions of all of the ninjas, none of them were anywhere near full health. Rather, all were in critical, or dead.

Even though he heard Sakura crack into silent tears which were not so silent, he used his most commanding voice. "Sakura, get Sasuke. Asuma, you'll carry Itachi. I'll take Rukawa. Kurenai can get Naruto. Leave Hyuuga and Kenji here. They are dead. Forensic will… clean the mess."

Biting her lower lip, Sakura took Sasuke onto her back, powering chakra into her legs. She could feel Sasuke's blood drip onto her arms, and the ankle was pathetically stiff. Faster than a ravaged man, Sakura went.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: I know I promised a really fast update, and I really tried to fufill it, but I had loads of homework, and end-of-years are only 28 days away. So, it will be about a month and a week before I can update.

Did Sasuke seem a bit weak? So far, he's still in the trauma of the Uchiha Massacre, so of course he cracked up.

As for the Kyuubi-Shukaku fight, no, I hope it wasn't lame. I tried to make it graphic, sad to say, it was probably ultraman versus teletubies. Still, I hope you enjoyed it. When Naruto gets control, and when Kyuubi has teamwork or leadership skills, the fights will get better.

Ninjas fell easily under the Kyuubi back then, so why wouldn't Rukawa and Itachi? They are powerful, but still human.

Sighting of Uchiha Shisui! I've been waiting for this for a long, long, long time. No, I'm not mad, I'm normal, contrary to what some people say...

Oh yeah, for Amaretsu's name, I'm not sure if it's Amaretsu, or Amaratatsu, or Ama(something). So it it isn't Amaretsu, please tell me so I can correct it… Actually, I have a lot to learn and improve about writing, so comments are really more than appreciated.

Please make me happy again and review!


	12. Chapter Eleven Killer's Eyes

**Disclaimer: My name is Uchiha Itachi. If you believed me, it just goes to show that I do not own Naruto. If my hypnosis failed and you didn't believe me, it still goes to show that I do not own Naruto.**

I'm back! Please don't kill me. This long break was not, in fact a break. It was Examinations, the end-of-years, and I needed to study, since my grades for this past year has been… just pass for my school. Yes, excuses, seeing that most of this chapter was done during this period. Still, examinations ended today for my class, and here I am!

Yes! I couldn't resist writing, but I resisted posting, because I knew that in my dumb state of mind I wouldn't be able to reread the chapter or make it good. So here I am, after compiling the chapter. In fact, the next chapter should be out tomorrow.

Cutting all the crap, I am in fact Uchiha Itachi. Please tell me my hypnosis didn't work.

Okay, bash me all you want for such a long wait.

sn1ck3rD00dl3: Yep, hot crossed buns, I am terribly sorry. That was what shukaku named Kyuubi's attack. I couldn't think of anything intelligent so that was it.

Edengrave: Shisui appears! To how he killed off the Hyuugas, he wasn't using the black fire because he was hurrying.

MagusKyros: Thanks for telling me its Amateresu.

2stupid: What is my thingie?

**Before this chapter starts, I dedicate this to Edengrave, 2stupid, and sn1ck3rD00dl3, and thank aknut for kamui.**

Chapter Eleven- Killer's Eyes 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura sank her face into her hands wearily. She felt, and wanted to cry, but her newly enforced ninja skills did not permit it. She had been useless in the event of battle. While her comrades risked their lives, she had been a messenger bird. That was her capabilities… a messenger bird.

She felt a large palm touch her head and looked up. "Gai-sensei, how are… they?"

Gai smiled and sad beside Sakura on the plastic chairs out side the Emergency Room. "The healers are still healing Itachi and Rukawa. They say the damage can be fixed, though they will need recuparation for about three weeks.

"Sasuke's ankle was fixed immediately, but a psychologist will help him for three weeks too.

"Naruto self-healed, so he'll only be in bed for a week. His exhaustion was beyond himself.

"There's nothing to worry about. In fact, if you hadn't arrived earlier, they might all be dead."

"What about Gaara?" Sakura asked, feeling cold fury leak into her shaky voice.

Gai stared at the girl. Her once radiant green eyes were lit with sadness, and yet blank at the same time. Killer's Eyes, as the ninjas called it. Hardly a day would go by during the war when one would realise that he would never forget the ones he killed. They would realise that the people they had killed had toiled as they did, had gone in fearing death and receiving it, just as they had.

Remembering his days during the Third Ninja World War, Gai felt his throat catch. "He's fine, but under maximum security, just like Orochimaru. Everything will be fine. We can handle it. Do you need a break? You look tired."

Sakura was sure Gai was trying to reassure her, but she only felt worse. Getting up from her seat, Sakura said slowly, "Excuse me, Gai-sensei. I need to go to the toilet."

Gai followed the retreating back with his eyes. Everytime he thought he had it, the realities of being ninja, the realities of being born to be a ninja, hit him harder then the last.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Washing her face with the cool water, Sakura rested both hands on the corners of the sink, looking at her reflection. She still sported cuts and bruises. Her clothes were still stained with blood. She still felt the toll of killing. She could still smell death.

It had been eight hours since the war had ended, thirteen since Itachi and Rukawa were rushed into the Emergency Room, but outside, dead bodies had been cleaned up, piled high in a large, clear space, the smoke rising through the air like a memorial pillar. Villagers and ninjas were picking up the debris, some frantically scrubbing blood stains. Working, working because their bodies and souls were wearied beyond relief.

At least Konoha had been blessed with good news. They had defeated the Suna and Sound forces, plus some squads of other villages. All ronin had been rounded up, and were undergoing torture. Captured Suna and Sound underwent the same treatment.

Possibly the best news for the Sand was that the Shukaku was gone forever. They had promptly unattached the Sabaku siblings from their village, and Konoha had accepted them with open arms.

The Sandaime was in critical condition, laid in a ward with maximum security. Orochimaru was stapled into the dungeons of the ANBU headquarters on maximum patrolling, constantly drugged, put on twenty genjutsus, and whipped relentlessly after they had had healed his wounds.

If possible, they planned to put him on a truth serum to get every bit of dark jutsus he had created and lock it in their archives for future reference. After that, they would kill him. In fact, the Sound had received reports "dropped" by Konoha that their kage was dead, killed as he was fleeing.

While healers were healing, while builders were building, she was a kunoichi, and yet she was sopping.

_"The main reason of your unconcious resistence is your inability to actually do things," Itachi said._

_Sakura panted and retorted, "I know all of this already."_

_Itachi folded his hands. "How interesting. Then why am I still under the impression that you don't?"_

Sakura wrenched the faucet and splashed water to her face. When she wiped her eyes dry, her green eyes were bright and fiery. When her teammates needed her the most, she would be there for them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dark medical room was lit by candles. Each block of maroon wax glowed with orange inscriptions, while the actual wick did not burn. Other than the candles was the chakra, covering hands which healed. Healing hands.

The flat, unbroken stone floor had hundreds of kanji scratched into them. Hitomi sat crosslegged, calmly knitting flesh and bone using generated tissue. All that she used to control her chakra was a simple seal and a blood sign etched on her palms.

Once again she was healing the same boy, both times, he had been in a near death situation. Strange, how five years back she had needed to use so many seal sets. Thanks to Tsunade, healing had progressed significantly, until she had left.

But then, after she had healed Rukawa for the first time, she had been young and innocent, after the experience, she had had many nightmares, driving her to the point where she had drafted her resignation many times. Then Uchiha Itachi had brought her aside, talked and counseled her. She promised him she would never give up her profession.

Hitomi blushed.

When she finally wove the last strand, she rose from her position so that another healer could take her place and exited the room.

"How is he, Hitomi-san?"

"Still in critical, but he'll be out. We've handled these wounds before."

Sakura nodded and spun on her heels. It seemed that Itachi-sensei had fared the worst physically. There were more medics posted in his room.

"Sakura!" A voice called at her right.

Sakura stopped and turned around again. It was Shikamaru, heavily bandaged, his jacket half torn, most of it smeared with blood.

"We need you in the rebuilding efforts now. I'm sorry."

"No worries," Sakura replied.

Shikamaru shrugged off his jacket onto the floor and said. "Let's go."

"Your jacket!"

"It's useless."

Sakura took a moment to go into shock. Ino had told her of their countless missions and trainings when Shikamaru would go into the most troublesome of ways to not lose his jacket, which had been a gift from his older brother, the last gift he ever had.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Far from the ruins of konoha, Uchiha Shisui turned to Kimimaro.

"So, do you swear allegiance to Akatsuki?"

Kimimaro glared and replied, "As long as you get rid of my curse, I will follow."

"Are you sure? Forsaking Orochimaru-_sama_?"

Kimimaro growled. He didn't need this now. "For your information, Uchiha, Orochimaru wasn't all as he had seen. As soon as he learnt that I couldn't last forever because of this disease, he shunted me to the Sound Five. Degrading."

"Very well. Then meet my, and your future, partner."

Kimimaro rose his fine eyebrows at the figure that appeared out of thin air. He had not even smelled any chakra residue. _These guys are the best._

Shisui's partner could only be one that befit Uchiha Shisui. Silver hair to the base of his neck, with strands the ran loosely in the wind. A black necklace with a single silver stone which was carved out. The akatsuki coat was open and not as stiff as Shisui's for it too blew with the wind easily. With the high collar, it easily made him look like a vicar.

Kimimaro held out his hand, wanting to feel for the man's strength. "Pleased to meet you…"

"Yokuza Kamui," the reply came. No handshake.

Shisui smirked at the affronted look on Kimimaro's face. It was the same as the day a year back…

Nobushita Island was a small land, reached only by boat. Tiny villages were scattered about the frosty island. It had been winter for a long time, and nature outnumbered human's architecture.

Shisui touched the earth, his hands protected by leather gloves. Apart from some slave drivers, there was a single person coming from the opposite direction.

Shisui straightened up, and without turning around, said, "I know you are there."

"Very good, Uchiha. No doubt the Mirage of which my master revers," came the reply.

Shisui stuck his hand out. "Nice to meet you…"

The younger man ignored it and replied with a wane smile. "Yokuza Kamui."

Shisui motioned at the large blade that was strapped to Kamui's back. "That your weapon? Looks bulky."

Kamui shrugged and bared his teeth. "I got it off Hoshigaoka Kisame, and changed the blade completely. Nevertheless, it still retains its powers. It was his secondary blade before his primary one. I heard that he has joined the Akatsuki?"

"Indeed," Shisui replied. "Let's talk about your… resume."

Kamui nodded and said, "I was born here in the Nobushita Island. In the Nobushita-Kuronage clash, my family was killed. I had a brother, who saved me but was killed himself. We were a family of ninjas, so I was taught a few arts, but never sent to an Academy.

"When I was twelve, some Kuronage villagers caught up with the people I was with and savaged all of them. Then, some power awoke within me, and I killed all of them with powers I never knew I had. Perhaps it is a bloodlimit, but it cost me a curse.

"Kazama-san accepted me into his fold and trained me for nine years. He learnt of the Akatsuki and arranged for me to join. When I saw your terms, I complied immediately. After all, that, although powerful, old fool concentrated far too much on monetary gains. So, I killed him and his organization.

"The second condition I fufill is freedom. I come before you with hope that you will free me from my curse. It affects my eye sight and chakra surges, though I assure you I am qualified to battle with any kage under any circumstance."

Shisui stared at Kamui, and they let cold wind sting their faces until Shisui finally spoke. "Very well, Yokuza Kamui. Welcome to the Akatsuki. We will go to the meeting, where we will find the source of this curse and you shall undergo trial."

… Kamui continued to ignore the outstretched hand and said, "Kimimaro. We will now escort you to headquarters, where you will receive trial and treatment."

Smirking, Shisui disappeared with a wave of his cloak. The Kimimaro lackey was an important addition, the perfect accessory to complement his plans.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Days later…)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Kazekage's regent sat opposite of the Hokage, with his head held high with all the arrogance that one man could assume.

His country had been defeated, tricked into attacking Konoha, without even informing the village, by a demented snake charmer. The village ace, Shukaku, had been destroyed, most of the Sand prestige was gone, and all of the Treasury was to go to the Hidden Leaf as a form of compensation.

But in the cool, dim office, he regarded the Sandaime, smirking. "I have come here to negotiate a certain peace between our two countries. I have already handed the official seal of our treasury to your… ah, secretary."

Anko clenched her fists under the table. She had only been in to report events to the Hokage when this… crap had budged in with all the arrogance his fat ass had. She looked at Sarutobi sharply to see how he would react to such rudeness.

"Seeing that the Sand is under our mercy, I'm not too sure if you should treat us with such limited courtesy, Gatsuki-san. But seeing that your forces have been defeated by one lone enemy, the awkwardness is quite understandable."

Gatsuki's smirk dropped a few notches. Anko smirked, hiding her laugh in four hacking coughs.

"To business, Sandaime Hokage-sama," Gatsuki spat. "We will agree to any of your terms as with conditions as stated here."

The Regent slipped a thick file onto the smooth pine table. Hokage took it and unwound the bounds and flipped through the thick parchment. "Carry on, Gatsuki-san."

"Since our Jinchuukri has lost his Ichibi, we have, technically, lost him and his immediately family to Konoha. Thus, the papers are here. We hope that you will agree with our terms."

Anko noted that Gatsuki seemed fairly happy that Gaara had been disconnected from the Sand. They had abandoned him because he had lost something valuable to them. He had been their… thing. Then she remembered Orochimaru, and she stood up, saying, "Gatsuki-_san_, how about I sock you in the head and show your slimy carcass for the world to see?"

"Anko!" Sandaime said sharply. "That's enough! Gatsuki-san, I apologise for my subordinate replying you in kind."

Anko sat down laughing. This time, she did not bother concealing it. Gatsuki grew very red. He stood up mechanically. "No offense taken, Sandaime Hokage-sama. I shall take my leave now. Please reply in a week."

"I believe that the regent, who is inferior to the status of a Kage, is required to take the initiative," Anko said sweetly, feigning politeness.

Fuming, Gatsuki spat 'Fine!' and stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him. The force of the slam shook the whole room, and Sarutobi sighed as he caught the tipping Konoha seal, as he always had to whenever Anko was in the room.

"Nice catch, old man."

Sarutobi sighed through his nose, though a smile played on his lips. "Anything else, Anko?"

"Yes, but later. Since the Sand sissy wasted so much time, I should tell you now. The Council requests your presence."

Sarutobi massaged his temples. Giving his presence to the Council usually meant a rise in high blood pressure. But that was just a figure of speech. Kages didn't have abnormal pressures.

Flashing through handseals, he teleported to the Council room. It was a large circular wall with a chandelier with real candles, which served little light to the gloomy room, with mosaic flooring. The Council members, donning white cloaks with their faces concealed sat behind a dougnut table, as if he didn't know every single member. Sarutobi eyed the large radius around him, at least ten metres from each member, as if there was usually only one person per Council visit.

Sandaime Sarutobi addressed the Council of Elders directly. "What will we do with the Suna nin?"

"Put them under probation, under a good team. Give them three weeks to recover from the shock, then activate them. Konoha has had a sudden surge of D and C ranked missions, all from the war. We've had to postpone academy lessons so that students could do the E and D ranked while the genins handle C and rebuilding efforts. But don't bother to waste the high ranking ninjas. Just a good enough team to kill the Sabakus at order."

"Very well. Then what of the ANBU teams massacred by the Ichibi?"

"Stage a proper memorial, then install relevant ANBU members back in, or just add more. Sarutobi, are you older than us? Why bother us with such simple things? Surely you passed the hokage trials."

"I did," Sarutobi said shortly and exited the room swiftly. The ANBU scout was waiting outside the coucil room.

"Sandaime Hokage-sama, I have possible candidates for the ANBU department all here, please review them," he said.

Sarutobi grabbed the folder, patted the scout's back, and strode off to his office, his footsteps thumping heavily on the carpeted floor. To heck with the protocol of entering and leaving the Council room using teleportation so as to conceal the location, as if it wasn't only fifty steps from his office with a labeled door!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The room smelt clinical, the cliché detergent, same white sheets that felt cold until you've lain there for a minute, and once you changed your position, you would have to readapt.

Gaara was currently readapting as he watched the television. Local newscasters were scurrying, moving from place to place, reporting the events, avoiding rubble. The current journalist was a girl with long blond hair and a deep velvet outfit. Her forehead protector and her tight suit just didn't match, so he concluded: a bimbo.

Yamanaki Ino sneezed in front of the camera.

But what concerned him more than the matters of a bimbo, was his fear. Now he was defenceless, powerless to any attack. It was as if his existence had faded away, and he would return to his days as a kid. No, worse. He did not have the Shukaku anymore! He was in a strange land, and those foreigners would treat him like a monster, and they wouldn't even pay for their deeds.

Gaara looked around. There were no sharp things around. Even his effects had been taken from him. The smell, his heart, it was all killing him. Gaara squirmed in his bed, his eyes wide. They had even put a seal on him to seal his chakra. He wouldn't be able to summon a clone to kill him.

Meanwhile, Naruto had his back to the door, an elbow on the handle, as he held a tray. He wondered what to say to Gaara, if he should even speak to the guy. _This handle is really tight. Maybe it's telling me not to go in. Raccoon might even squash me with his weird sand. Wait, he shouldn't have any control over sand now that I destroyed Shukaku. Why oh why did the old man make me do this. I hate Raccoon's guts for heavens sake! If I see him, I might even kill him for what he did to Gaara._

_But killing… I'm not sure if I should even take the life of another anymore._

Behind the door, a small wad of sand pushed the handle down to admit Naruto. No death sand, no Oh-I'm-gonna-squash-you glare. Only blankness. And fear.

"I… I've got food," Naruto muttered. Feeling stupid, the blond set the tray on the bed's table, and sat stiffly on the couch beside Gaara's bed. Naruto felt the monster within him roar with rage, and this had nothing to do with the Kyuubi.

**I heard that, you stinking brat!**

_Thank kami-sama for you, fox. Dunno what I'll do if you weren't here yakking away._

**Your expression of thanks is somewhat abnormal, brat. Is your brain okay?**

Gaara merely looked at him, as if knowing that he was having a conversation with Kyuubi. Ino was still talking into the microphone, commenting on the situation at the Takakuta Mounts. Even the cool air coming from the air conditioner was louder than their conversation. In other words, there was none.

Naruto inadvertedly slid his eyes from Gaara to the tray of food. _Finally. _"The food looks really disgusting. You sure you want that?"

"If you want to eat it, just say so, Uzumaki."

"That's not what I meant!" Naruto replied indignantly, feeling the monster within him rearing up. "I was going to ask if you wanted me to get some takeaways!"

"So that you could slip in poison? Avenge your teammates for what I did to them? You can't fool me. There can't be any business going on with all that chaos," Gaara replied, pointing at the television monitor.

"I won't do that Gaara," Naruto said queitly. Gaara felt his heart give way, but his face remained angry and scrutinizing. Defensive.

"I guess you want to know on their status. Rukawa and Itachi are still in the surgical rooms, although their out of critical. Sasuke is rehabilitating, and psychologists will counsel him for a week. I am fine, although I wont be doing anything active anytime soon, and neither will you. Our bodies were overworked. We'd be dead if not for chakra," Naruto said before Gaara could retort.

"So, you've come to smirk at me? Smirk at the lone person who's lost everything?" Gaara asked. "You don't even know loneliness!"

"I do, but I'm different from you, because I've earned my companions. A lot of people here still hate me, but it doesn't matter, cos' I've found my support," Naruto retorted, half angry, though he now knew what was egging the red head.

"Shut up! You, sitting there, with that smile plastered on your face! With all your friends fighting for you! I've seen this before!" Gaara grabbed Naruto's collar and jerked him forward. "Don't act like some innocent piece of shit! I know what's under that mask! You want to see me die because I hurt your stupid little friends!"

This time, Naruto scrunched up Gaara's shirt. "Do you think that I wouldn't know how you feel? I am a Jinchuukri! I have been labeled and viewed thus! Even if we're from different villages, how would it be any different? How would it be any different for others like us?"

"How would you know how I feel? I've never entered a dream, but you've been sleeping for an eternity! You smile! You have friends!"

"Isn't that the point? Friends! Companionship! Do you truly think that we existed to be a corked up bottle for some dumb animal?" Naruto yelled and pushed Gaara onto the bed. "I earned them! So can you, don't you know that? Earn your friends, earn your comrades, and they will return to you in kind!"

"Oh yeah!" Gaara retorted. "Then tell me why I've been expelled from my own village, when I'm the Kazekage's son! Tell me why my uncle tried to assasinate me! Tell me why my siblings fear me! Tell me why I've had to suffer, even if it's like you!"

Clenching his fists, Gaara punched Naruto sharply in the face, sending him into the wall.

"Konoha has accepted you into our folds. Isn't that enough? To be willingly accepted? I haven't been acknowledged by the whole village, as I said, but I've been accepted by my teammates. Wouldn't that be enough for me? The Hokage, even though you would have annihiliated Konoha if you could, accepted you. Isn't that enough for us? If you've never allowed your siblings in, if you've always treated them with glares instead of trying to understand them, how do you expect them to even try to know you?" Naruto asked with a level voice, blood trickling from his nose.

Gaara let down his fists. "I've tried as a little, innocent kid. But I learnt that innocence has nothing to do with it, Uzumaki. You think that after what I've done with their ANBU teams, with your _companions_, that they will not kill me?"

Naruto wiped the blood with his sleeve. "I'm sure they will. They've accepted me."

He got up from the floor and gestured at the food. "You really should eat then. I should be going. Temari and Kankurou have been waiting for you outside."

Gaara stared after Naruto. _Waiting for you… I have people waiting for me?_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"Get up."_

_Get up… Get up… Get up… It echoed through his head._

_Sweat was dripping down freely. He had wrapped bandages over his hands, but they were still bleeding. He used his wrist to feel for the bruise at the corner of his mouth. _

_There was too much pain, he was too tired. He did not want to get up._

"_Get up."_

_Struggling, he pushed himself up, picking up the staff as he went._

_Shisui smirked and tapped his own black rod on the floor twice and walked off the training stage, and five ronin charged in, leaping over fallen bodies._

_Panting, Kazuya raised his rod to block the swipe, leapt over a jab, and broke the staff over one man's head, and landing behind the man, punched the head of his staff into the kidney section._

_The other men were on him as the ronin fell, twirling their rods and screaming war cries. Kazuya struggled out of the mess. He nicked a leg, and turned around to face another opponent when a rod slammed into him. Long weakened and tired, he grabbed the rod, raising his own to throw it over his shoulder into the fourth ronin. Wrenching the rod off his attacker's hand, Kazuya landed three succesive hits._

_Then rods were all on him, slamming him to the ground, hitting him. He was unarmed, the staff somewhere. Blood blinded his eyes._

_Finally, a tap on the ground sent the remaining ronin back into the shadows._

_Shisui walked up and nudged Kazuya with his black rod._

"_Get up."_

Rukawa woke up panting. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, half expecting to feel blood. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Images of monotonous black and white rushed back. He was Aikawa Kazuya again, training to become Shisui's best weapon again.

He opened his eyes.

The door to his room opened. Itachi walked in. "Rukawa, you're finally awake. How do you feel?"

" Feel as if I've been unplugged from hell." Rukawa said, feeling surreal, as if his self was submerged in the memory while an imprint lingered here in the hospital.

"Chakra healing can do that to you. There was no permenant damage though you won't be at maximum strength for awhile."

Sensing something amiss, Itachi observed Rukawa. That faraway, pained look in his eyes. Such profound thoughts he knew that he would never come to know, hidden behind those dark, blank orbs. Those were beyond Killer's Eyes.

"I just received news from the Hokage. The Sabaku siblings Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou have been transferred to our village. Apparently, the Sand gave them up as soon as they learnt that Gaara had lost he Shukaku.

"I told the Sandaime that it was fine with us; they will be joining our team."

Rukawa looked up sharply. Itachi tried to read it. Anger? Surprise? Then Rukawa smiled. "This one of your I'm-A-Good-Teacher plans, Itachi?"

Itachi smirked. "You could put it that way. Haven't told Sakura or Sasuke yet. Naruto, he was angry at first, still is, but he seems to be okay with it. You know, I think this is the understanding between the Jinchuukris. They know how the other thinks."

"What happened to Sasuke?"

"In terms of physical, it's fine, good compared to a lot of people. But he's still unconcious. In fact, he's gotten the Mangekyou Sharingan."

"How? Surely he didn't kill Naruto or Sakura?"

"That day, he believed that he had killed both of us. In effect, the blood ritual and mental bondings were completed," Itachi explained distantly. But he knew that Sasuke had been deeply affected. He knew that Sasuke had gone back to the time when he was eight, during the Uchiha Massacre. From the look on his face, Rukawa realised that too.

"This is probably too direct, but he is going to face it, and you'll have to teach him to master the Mangekyou," Rukawa said. "Futhermore, Uchiha Shisui is definitely coming back, and the Akatsuki will come for Naruto one day."

"It's been a long time since I heard you say his name."

"It was about time. I have these… these… these premonitions. The winds are changing."

"In about two days. Fast, I know, but the Sandaime is giving us a one week grace period to catch up with our new teammates and recuperate. After that, we'll be up for any mission that comes our way," Itachi paused.

"And? Did we pass our fail the Chuunin Exams?" Rukawa pressed. It was a minor issue, but it had somehow popped up in his head.

"Sakura is on a four month probation. Her performance during the Chuunin Exam was less than substandard, but what she did during the invasion was pretty good. The rest of you, including the Sabaku siblings, have been promoted to Chuunin. Good haul, I know, but your performance was exemplary, and this is war, we need as many hands as we can get. It's like when Kakashi was promoted to Chuunin at Six."

"You're not admitting that your promotion at ten was a fluke?"

"No. That was pure genius. I know what you're trying to say. Shut up."

"Okay, okay! This is such a violent reaction, are you in denial?"

"Shut up."

"Nyah."

"What was that!"

Rukawa ignored him point blank. "Any news of an ANBU scout?"

Right on cue, Kakashi appeared with a poof of smoke. "Sorry I'm late, Itachi, but my shoelaces snapped…"

"Spare me the theatrics: you don't have laces," Itachi dismissed with a wave of his hand. "In fact, don't even make up an excuse next time."

Kakashi cleared his throat and handed Rukawa a sheet of paper. "That's your application form. The scout recommended you immediately. Your performance was good, I admit. But as we need real mission evaluations, you will have a few team missions with your team and at least one solo mission.

"Your evaluater is obviously Itachi, and if all goes well, you'll be assigned in his unit."

"Wait," Itachi held up a hand. "Subordinates and mentors aren't supposed to be in the same unit."

"Correct, but you know the council. You're the only team that's open for candidates, which means that you'll be leading a bunch of rookies. Hyuuga's team have already been taken up by candidates from two months ago, and most of them were in the same teams."

Itachi ran a hand through his hair. "I don't get what the Council's doing again. We're supposed to shuffle the people, keep the balance. I can't say I'm happy with it, but neither can I do anything."

"Which is why you have to answer this right now so that I can report to Ibiki: Do you accept the supervision of Rukawa?"

"Duh… I mean, yes," Itachi replied sheepishly. Kakashi turned to Rukawa. "Then do you accept this… invitation?"

"Yes, thanks," Rukawa replied.

Kakashi's grim features deflated as he took out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise. "Take care, Rukawa."

"You've broken mine and Kakashi's record," Itachi congratulated evenly. "Being drafted for ANBU almost immediately after being accepted into ANBU."

"What, jealous now? Gawd, Itachi, I didn't know you had so many expressions! Usually it's the Uchiha Smirk or the Uchiha Glare."

"At least, unlike you, I don't have only three facial expressions!"

Rukawa folded his arms and smirked. "I believe that three is more than two."

"Shut up!"

Hospitals were weird places. People, dead or alive, were wheeled in almost every second. Medics squirted detergent excessively on the floor whenever a nurse popped in asking them to heal a comatic patient. The smell of caffeine from doctor's mugs often ravaged a madman, but when he went out to find a vending machine, there would only be the stench of sterilisers. A recent survey conducted on nurses revealed that doctors spent more time scrubbing their desks than wielding a scapel, while nurses knew more about emergency procedures than doctors even though they had no such degree.

Such as was this case, when Rukawa was congratulating himself for antagonizing Itachi privately, when Temari strode in, a bouquet of flowers in her arms.

Rukawa could suspect her reason for coming, but it was awkward, seeing that he had thrashed her, an elite genin, easily infront of a stadium of spectators. Worst still, he wasn't sure if she was trying to give him a get-well gift or to present her consolations.

"Thanks for the white chrysanthemums."

"Oh, I know, don't get me wrong," Temari said sheepishly, apparently ignoring her new jounin mentor. Rukawa was obviously getting her wrong. "In the Sand, we give white chrysenthemums for patients."

Rukawa nodded his head uneasily, and Temari put the flowers on the table top, reaching across Itachi. Rukawa found it odd, then he realised. The Uchiha Smirk. Itachi was organizing royal payback! The ultimate declaration of war from Uchiha Itachi to Kazuhiko Rukawa!

Rukawa decided to turn the tables. "Why don't you sit down, Temari?"

Temari nodded and sat on Itachi's lap, pushing him into the chair uncomfortably, making him concentrate on sinking into the chair while having her on his lap. Then Temari spoke. "Rukawa, now that we're teammates, I would like to apologise for my younger brother, Gaara."

"Don't worry about that. We were enemies as decided by war. I, on the other hand, want to apologise for that day during the Chuunin Exams. I…"

"Stick and stones," Temari said. The most disastrous attempt of a joke Rukawa had ever heard, including those he made.

A moment's pause passed. Rukawa blushed, wondering why she was staring at him like that. Even the approximation was wrong. Even if Temari thought he was the most open man in the world, surely this was infringement on personal space! Had Itachi pulled another prank on him? He stared as she reached forward, her face beside his.

"Temari…"

Temari draped her arms around Rukawa and said huskily, "In the Sand, we do this too."

Rukawa detached himself from Temari as quickly as he could, though not harshly. "Temari… I'm only eleven… you're fifteen!"

Temari withdrew as though she had been stung. Or rather, she looked as if she had awoken. "Wha- What happened? Oh yeah, I said we're even, right? So, since you'll be discharged, can I help with packing?"

"Yes," Rukawa said. As Temari went into the toilet to pack his things, Rukawa glared at Itachi and they traded insults with sign language. Itachi had performed a love inducing genjutsu on Temari, a jutsu that most kunoichi did on assasination or spying missions to get information or other things.

The tension was still in the air, no matter if it was Temari guilty for her own brother, Rukawa guilty for almost killing her during the exams, or Itachi scared of the nights to come.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Killer's Eyes, I got inspired by FMA for this. When I read that part, about the Ishbal war, I suddenly found myself knowing very little about the effects of war. The reason why Sakura didn't puke is because she's a ninja. Ha ha. I don't know whether this chapter was sappy, because I was trying to depict the aftermath of war.

Okay, Rukawa/Kazuya! The memory, don't know if you felt anything from it, but they slowly builds up as the chapter passes. And if this goes into Rated M, which I don't think so, ah well.

Edengrave: In order to build up on contrasting Sasuke from Itachi and Rukawa, I'm currently working on the three of them. Sasuke didn't appear in this chapter for that reason.

The invasion has changed them and it will show in the next mission.

Chapter 12 will probably come out tomorrow.

Please review! **Thanks for all of the reviews from last time**! To think of the day when I had 6 and my friend said I'd never reach even 60! Or even 16! So, thank you all.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	13. Chapter Twelve Forgive, but to Forget?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Muahahaha!**

Author's Note: Yes, I promised to give this to you people yesterday, slash that to the day before before before, but after a school project (yep, projects just after exams), my computer conked out, and it was when I wrote this. Conked out refers to my internet has wacked out on me, and I can't even get onto my homepage. But I'm back after letting my com rest for a few days, checking once a day if the thing was working. Finally, it is.

Anyway, thank you **doomforyou**! The hit list shows that a lot of people drop out in the first 3 to 4 chapters, but after that most of them stayed stay. Still, if everyone reviewed, this would definitely hit a hundred, like you said. Anyway, don't worry because my writing and uploading isn't affected by reviews, even though I love them.

Thank you **Shuuwai** and **aknut** for the reviews too!

Lalalala. History and Math results came out. I have as much chance of getting 65 as becoming an NBA player tomorrow. My Chinese stinks, I've never hit seventy percent for any of my stuff, mostly sixty percent. Oh, but my English compo, I messed it up, forgot to add a few chapters to make it nice. Should never have rushed.

I'm not a babbling git. Study SEA colonialisation history? A couple of hints here. Yep, studying mostly history when I wrote this. Every influence was unintentional, I promise. Enjoy.

**Chapter Twelve—Forgive, but to forget?**

Finally, Hitomi came into their room one day smiling. "Both of you… are discharged. Hokage-sama has ordered that your team, with the exception of Sasuke, will be in the Uchiha Mansion for the rest of your days until the next mission."

Rukawa leapt off his bed, swinging his bag over his shoulder. Hitomi made to condemn him for his roughness, but he suddenly smiled at her and ran away, jumping out of the open window and leaping to the ground below.

Itachi also stood. Hitomi walked up to him, holding out a hand to stop him. "Itachi…I."

Itachi nodded tersely and exited through the window. Hitomi watched the Uchiha embelm hang in the air for a moment before it disappeared, the pale green curtains fluttering in its wake, a single tear ran down her cheek.

Rukawa waited for Itachi. He watched as the usually calm man flustered about and fumbled with his pack. "Shall we go, or would you rather dream of Hitomi, crusher?"

"I don't like her that way! She does! Not me! Never me!" Itachi shouted.

"I see," Rukawa replied shortly and stalked away, a smile tugging on his lips.

They found Naruto and the others at Ichiraku Ramen. Typical.

Gaara, Kankurou, and Temari, were all expertly fanning and retracting poker cards in their hands, playing with different techniques of sleight of hand, and levitating some of them.

Itachi took one look at Naruto's stiff cards and commented, "It seems that the Sand was a big fan of gambling?"

"Strip Poker, Go Fish, Skeleton, Tithe, you name it," Kankurou replied and slapped a Three-House on the open faced deck.

Gaara replied with a King-Full and said, "Sand Casinos are worse than Leaf's. We amused ourselves with cards during our time there because we only had ourselves and our house."

"Sakura, is that old man still easing himself of excretory problems?" Temari called out and slapped a palm on the table, signalling a pass, as did Naruto and Kankurou.

While Mr Ichiraku busied himself at the toilet, his daughter prepared the noodles. "Eh, Kiro-chan, I'd like a seafood ramen. Itachi wants a vinegar soba."

"Yes, sir!"

"Rukawa, I will kill you. Uh, change my soba to a miso ramen!"

"…No, sir."

Finally, Gaara ended the game with a two spades then a Club-Three card after Two consecutive combos. Temari was seated beside Rukawa, so she spoke to him first, "Hey."

'Hey' was the weirdest thing to say to a boy, but seeing that he looked guilty, Temari did not know what else to say.

"Erm… hey… I mean, I mean. Um, where's Sakura?"

Temari broke her wooden chopsticks and started eating her soba. "It's her period. That old man is taking a long time. Luckily she's wearing a red outfit today."

Rukawa choked on his noodles and spluttered, "What!"

Temari choked on her soup and shut up, thinking, _This guy is an innocent!_

Another long silence. Itachi found it amusing, and choked on his noodles. Naruto found a choking Itachi funny, so he choked. Gaara coughed at that and choked. Kankurou saw that and choked.

Crows flew past. "Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw."

"So… so, you, er, look tired," Temari commented after fishing for a long time. Rukawa shrugged and said, "Yeah, haven't been able to sleep lately."

"Thinking of me?"

"No!" _Sheesh! Why is everyone perverts today? _

Rukawa suddenly remembered the fight between Temari and himself, how he had felt guilty, for some odd reason. At least she was talking about it freely. Had she forgiven him? They were opponents, what was there to forgive. Since when had he hestitated to kill a target during a mission? _I'm getting weak_.

He felt awkward. Itachi was grieving for his teammates, but the Council had already recruited so many ninjas to replace them just like replacing toilet paper. Furthermore, subordinates were not allowed to work with their jounin mentors or their teammates, so as to discourage the breaching of a few emotional ninja rules. That said, almost all ANBU members felt a certain bond to their fellow comrades. The Council was, once again, bending the rules to their advantage. Konoha could have become an even more powerful and prosperous ninja village if the Council had not only worked things to their advantage. The Yondaime's sacrifice was also partly their fault, even though most people did not know it.

After lunch, they went to the Uchiha Mansion. Itachi gave a small tour around the manor.

Sasuke, with his pack slung over one shoulder, walked into the Uchiha Mansion. Five years ago, he had been fleeing between fallen corpses. Five years back, his father had been killed in the front yard, on the very ground he was crossing. The bamboo feature had been removed, as had the water feature. After all, he and his brother had no time to care for a pond. In the past, it had been their mother. He stepped onto one of the elevated platforms into the room that led to his.

The house no longer felt empty and dead, but sometimes, he could still see his younger self leaving the house, his father chewing methodically on the food, and then killed on that very night.

Since the psychotherapy, he felt renewed, he did not need to wait for five seconds before his shoulders would learn to relax and his fists unclench. Actually, he felt that even without the psychologists helping him, he would have recovered by himself.

The invasion had changed him so much, even though he had played only a fraction of a part in it. He couldn't sleep for more than three hours. Everytime he tried the ronins and ninjas he had killed would loom out of the darkness and haunt him with their blood and screams. If he kept this up, he would have lines on his face like his brother.

Itachi was sitting on his bed when he entered the room. "Aniki."

"Ototo, it's good to have you back."

Silence washed over them. Sasuke suddenly found himself looking at his brother as an equal, as two ninjas.

There was something big coming up. He knew what was going to happen, it gnawed at him from inside.

"It's time I taught you more about our bloodlimit."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the six days of Sasuke's training, Naruto was having his own problems. Gaara felt out of place, and not everyone knew what to do.

Temari and Kankurou were trying, like all siblings did. They tried to hang loose around their little brother, but the memories of the maniac or cold face still merged with the lost face. They knew that Gaara could sense their apprehensiveness, and they could only hope that he sensed their effort.

Sakura would falter whenever Gaara came near. She tried to act normal, but in Naruto's opinion, she was a poor actress. It was not her fault in most ways, since Gaara had almost killed all of those she loved other than her parents just a few days ago.

Rukawa was okay with it, in fact he was his usual self, but his usual self was abnormal in a time like this. All clammy and silent, it was sending the wrong message to Gaara unintentionally, and it was hurting Gaara, even though Naruto had explained everything to Gaara.

The five of them were sitting in Rukawa's room, it was spacious, with a futon on the floor, his wardrobe, his magazines, a work table and a chair, but that was it. After all, he shared a room with Sasuke on the third floor.

They were sitting as living things, but _they might as well be wax figurines_, Naruto thought. No one knew what to say, and Naruto himself had come up with the Ramen discussion so many times it was irritating to even him.

"Suck ew pay bind dice?" Kankurou asked, his voice weird from keeping silent for so long.

"Excuse me?" Temari punched her brother shoulder.

Kankurou cleared his his throat loudly. "Sorry! Don't have to go all violent because of me! I was saying 'Shall we play blind mice?'"

Gaara looked at his brother oddly. _Is he doing this because of me? They've all been silent because I'm here. _"We haven't played blind mice since we were eight, Kankurou."

"Well, it was fun, so I just suggested it, I've been wanting to play for years," Kankurou said, not at all his usual cynical self, wanting to be kind to his kid brother.

But Gaara sensed this and his face hardened again. Naruto sighed this was going no where.

"Sakura, you have your period, so it just goes to show how much your body likes blind mice," Rukawa said.

"Excuse me? What kind of logic is that? Well, you're the youngest, why don't you be it?" Sakura snapped. Rukawa smirked. He had forced her to act normal, something Gaara needed.

Cool as a cucumber, he replied, "Then it would be called child abuse, pedophile. Anyway, if we were to go according to age, then it should be Temari, she's the oldest. Or Naruto, he's the shortest!"

"Child abuse has nothing to do with pedophilic tendencies! And for your information, I'm not one!"

"I'm not old you shrimp!"

"I'm not short, puny! You're only three centimetres taller than me!"

Rukawa smirked and tied a strip of blank cloth around Gaara's head over his eyes in a flash.

Temari and Kankurou drew their breaths in fear. Would Gaara kill them all? They had never seen anyone do such a bold thing to Gaara for years. But Gaara's mouth was opened in shock too.

"Count to ten," Rukawa said and ran away from the boy.

Gaara smiled inwardly and cleared his throat. "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six…"

Suddenly aware that Gaara was counting down to world domination in Rukawa's room, the other four people leapt to their feet and ran in all directions.

"One! Here I come."

Screams filled the air.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's about time you showed up, Sasuke," Naruto said. Gaara, Temari, Kankurou, Rukawa, and Sakura were standing around the room when Sasuke had turned on the lights. From Sakura's blindfold, Sasuke's eye twitched. "Blind mice?"

Before the world ended then and there, Gaara stood up and walked up to Sasuke.

A shadow passed over Sasuke's face, but it faded quickly into a blank expression. He forced his fists to unclench. He had to take this like a ninja.

Gaara relaxed when Sasuke smiled slightly, sure that it wasn't a faked expression. "Sasuke, will you forgive.."

"There is nothing to forgive," Sasuke said quickly. "From the start to finish, it was your duty, as it was mine. Welcome to the team, and its good to have you. It balances out the supreme idiocy of the shortest person here."

Sakura gaped at Sasuke, which looked stupid since he couldn't see her eyes. Sasuke wasn't the regular angst like Hyuuga Neji, but kindness was not of his strong points either. The tone had been so sincere, so it couldn't have been formalities. The war had changed all of them. Rukawa was slightly more serious but at the same time amiable. Naruto was queiter and his outbursts were plenty played down. Itachi was much more silent, studying them all. Sasuke appeared more relaxed, but more powerful. She had met up with the other teams recently, but they still seemed around the same.

Gaara smiled slightly, a small quirk that was not hostile, something which had become of a regular occurrence. His fellow Jinchuukri was right. Doubtless, Sasuke would not stoop so low as to forget the incident at the mountain basin, but he had forgiven.

"Sasuke, that scroll in your hand…" Naruto said. Sasuke nodded and held the scroll up.

"Our new mission as a new team. All of us are considered elite Chuunin as it is. The mission is A rank. Infiltration into Otagakure."

Sakura undid her blindfold. "That's pretty uncharacteristic of the Hokage."

"No, not the Hokage. He might brief us for the missions, but the people who choose the teams for missions are usually the Council. Sorry about this, Gaara, Naruto, but they've become quite apprehensive since the war. Unlike the Hokage, they fail to see anything beyond their asses," Sasuke answered.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, feeling the odd anger bubble within him.

"You'll see," Sasuke said. He unrolled the scroll and read the contents.

"Team Seven is to penetrate the Otagakure Archives and to collect any articles on Konohagakure. You are then to assasinate the special operatives there, equivalents to ANBU, and to secure the village for a counter attack."

"It's a suicide mission," Itachi walked in. "To get rid of two Jinchuukris, two ex-Suna nin and three Uchihas, no offense to you Sakura."

"Wait, no offense taken, but Itachi-sensei, three Uchihas?"

Sasuke looked at his brother. _Uchiha Shisui? Wait, can't be. _

"Forget what I said. Two Uchihas and one Kazuhiko. Six elite Chuunins and one special Jounin should be impossible, they understand that, but we aren't the regular stand offs. In all due modesty, us Uchihas are geniuses. Temari and Kankurou, you're seasoned ninjas who've handled such cases before? Naruto has the Kyuubi, and Gaara has had experience in mass assasinations. Sakura, you can handle yourself. That's about it.

"Even if this mission comes out bad, I guarantee you this, I'll protect all of you even if it costs me more than my life."

"Hardly reassuring, aniki," Sasuke said. "These blue prints, they aren't proportional. Are they real?"

"Negative. There are no blue prints of Otagakure. Those are fakes, or sketches obtained from our Sound captives. We'll do a scout for about a week. We have to steal the information and kill the Sound ANBU on the same night; I don't believe that they don't check every article everyday. After scouting, we'll lay a couple of plans, and that's it. After that, we still stay in Otagakure keeping a low profile, contact Konoha, and wait for a response. Any disguises?"

_You make it sound too easy, Aniki. What's with you. And what's with three Uchihas? His disposition totally changed from just now when he was still training me. _"We go in as nunekin. Otagakure has a free immigration policy, and nunekin entering and leaving is a daily occurrence, it should be enough, we don't even have to disguise our weapons, just take off the head protectors."

"I agree with Sasuke. We'll need to forge passports, and maybe even create a few head protectors which look like their from a different village, so that it won't arouse suspicion. Itachi, could you take the file with administration information from other villages down?" Rukawa asked.

"We'll need a different set of similar uniforms. That Uchiha embelm and Gaara's clothes are about international," Temari said.

Gaara spoke up. "We should leave tomorrow night. The distance to Otagakure is around a week. A medium pack and all our weapons. If its successful, the mission should be done in at least two weeks. Finish researching and forging and whatever other resources we need. We have to get at least a hundred credits each, plus a few hundred for bribery. Does your village have such a service?"

"Yes, I can go down to the Treasury right now," Sakura said, feeling quite useless.

"I can polish all the weapons. I have to tweak my puppets anyway."

"I'll help with whatever else, just call me," Naruto offered.

Itachi nodded and said, "Set off then. Be back by nine p.m."

His larger number of subordinates nodded and set off in seven flashes. _Just as I used to have seven people under me in ANBU. Rukawa looks tired, as if he hasn't slept for a week. Heard him muttering yesterday. Gaara is about stable. But Sasuke… he's changed, maybe too much._

"Aniki, we should reject the mission," Sasuke said. He had returned in a flash, a few blank head protectors in his hand and chisels in the other. "It's pure suicide, and you know it."

"We can't reject this. Doing this mission, we have a twenty percent chance of survival. But if we reject it, the Council will keep throwing such missions at us until we will have to give in, and I'm sure the missions will be pure suicide. If not, the Council can hire ROOTS and assasinate all of us in the middle of our sleep."

"ROOTS… You rejected their chief, right?"

"Yep, Danzou. He approached me four years back, and I rejected him flat. I guess he still remembers it and is pissed enough to grab any opportunity to kill me."

"But why did you reject him? ROOTS is the best department, maybe even better than ANBU."

"I don't like the way they do things."

Sasuke could not find anything to say to that. Itachi turned around and spotted the head protectors in Sasuke's hand. "Shall we get down to business then?"

"Sure."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rukawa flipped through the file. It contained all the administrative information of all the villages that Konoha had collected over the years. He finally spotted the Hidden Rain. A stolen Identification paper was kept in the folder pocket. Rukawa pulled it out, feeling the texture of the paper with his fingers. Then he sniffed it. Confirming it to be authentic, he closed the file, the Identification paper in his hand.

The Uchihas had kept many records and resources in the Uchiha Main Hold. There were an arsenal of weapons, folders, and everything else including different types of papers, about a stack of every kind in the Ninja World. It had been expensive, but during the time when the Uchihas had the highest prestige, gold was like sand in their accounts.

Rukawa felt each type of paper carefully. There were five types which were similar, but only two felt exactly the same. Rukawa sniffed both papers. They smelt the same. He frowned. _Then why are they under different labels? _

Rukawa got a capsule of water and squeezed a droplet on the Rain paper. The bead stayed on the paper, not sinking in. He did the same for the other two papers, with identical results.

He weighed the papers, all with the same weight. Heated the three papers without effect. He even switched off the lights, and all three papers remained black. He tried a lot of things, to no avail.

Frustration burning within him, Rukawa left the Rain paper alone as he tore the other two paper samples slowly. The first one tore crispily, almost like normal paper. The other stretched for a second before it tore. Rukawa smiled. Break through. With these differences, the way that the Rain paper tore would be the sample of paper. He tore a small corner of the paper.

It was the second sample. Rukawa pumped his fist and grabbed a stackful of the paper.

As for the ink, he recognised it as a mix of elephant glue, octopus ink, a dye from a certain tree, and normal blank ink. It was known as Byamo, meaning white ink, even though it was a deep, unique shade of rich purple.

Returning back to his room where Itachi and Sasuke were painstakingly carving out the rain symbols in the blank head protectors, Rukawa cleared his desk and started to forge the intricate patterns on the paper printed with diluted Byamo, with the main print in concentrated Byamo.

The wastepaper bin beside his desk filled to the brim quickly, even though he had his Sharingan on.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gaara and his sister walked down the street, not speaking. Knowing that Gaara wanted to improve their relationship, Temari was busy casting around for a subject. She did not want to act like a kind teacher to some academy student, unlike Kankurou. She had done it only on Kankurou's advice, but it only seemed to be hurting Gaara even more. But the fact was that the past five years had been a total fiasco.

The only time that she saw Gaara would be on a mission. The only conversations that she had with Gaara was on mission perimeters. Nothing decent. During the first eight years of Gaara's existence, their father had forbidden her or Kankurou to interact with him, for fear that he would kill them before they were of age.

She did not know him.

"Temari, what do you think of Naruto?"

Temari started. "I think that he's trustworthy, brave, good, and definitely stupid. He'll probably do anything for us even though we tried to kill him. Why?"

"Nothing, really," Gaara said. "I just thought that he was different from the others."

_He changed you, and our perspective of you, Gaara. He is different._ "I get what you mean."

Suddenly looking away, Gaara said, "The shop's there. Let's hurry."

Temari smiled. She was going to tell Kankurou to change his idiot thinking.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Konoha had four intelligence agencies. One was the most known ANBU, then the CTN (Counter Terrorist Network), AA (Archivists Agency), and ROOTS.

Unlike the ANBU headquarters, which was well placed in public view, albeit with a secret, extensive underground area, and the Hidden Leaf Library of which one side connected to the more intellectual Archivist Agents, the CTN and ROOTS was much more concealed.

As ronin and bandits terrorised Fire Country more often due to the founding of Otagakure and businessmen like Gatou, the CTN had received much more public attention, and in effect, funding. Sarutobi Asuma, recently transferred from the Special Jounin Units sat comfortably on the soft couch and puffed on a cigarette. The blaring sunlight blacked out the person sitting across him behind the desk.

The person made no move to speak, so Asuma decided to finish his cigarette. The door opened. Asuma turned his head and greeted, "Genma, you're here at last. Was thinking you might be with Kakashi. So, are you ready to fill us in, Ibiki?"

"It wasn't my fault, not even the Sandaime's. Once again, the Council has messed up. When I should be interrogating our most important enemy Orochimaru, I'm here heading a new department of CTN where our purpose is to step up security and round up stray ronin. We've been given six genin teams who can handle this by themselves, without our help."

"Frankly, I'm happy to have escaped Sarutobi's paperwork," Asuma said, not referring to himself. "And leaving Orochimaru to semi-professional interrogators isn't the only thing eating you, right?"

"I was almost transferred to AA, my pay has been docked, and I'm missing out on the Counterattack. How can I not be royally pissed? Even Anko is in, and she has personal problems with Otagakure."

When Asuma was sympathesizing with Ibiki, Genma finally decided to speak up. "At least you're not sent in to get killed."

"What does that mean? One whole hoard of ninjas, with Kakashi and all at point, it won't fail."

"That's not it. The Council is sending a team to do lots of stuff there where at least three special jounin teams will be needed, and to secure the place. It's the newest Chuunins, plus Itachi. Those stupid people are sending in our best potentials all because they _(bleep)ing don't like them_!"

The colour drained from Asuma's face. _Itachi's team?_ "What?"

Genma nodded, gnawing on his blunt senbon. He had refereed the Chuunin Exams, studied everyone, Sasuke, Temari, Kankurou, Naruto, Gaara, and Rukawa. He had worked extensively with Itachi before. They were going to be the best, some already were. But the Council was wasting them away. He suddenly felt attracted to Itachi. That hair, those eyes…

"Genma," Ibiki said abruptly. "Start chanting the I'm-not-gay mantra now."

Listening to his personal psychoanalyst, Genma did just that.

Asuma said, "Sending in Team Seven, what are they thinking. Even if it's not personal, but think about it. Naruto who has the Kyuubi, Gaara with some of Shukaku's powers, the sand siblings, the Uchihas, for heaven's sake. Why hasn't Sarutobi done anything?"

"He can't. He brought it up, they rejected it with a memorised essay. (Bleep) them."

A sharp caw alerted Genma. As he was standing by the door, he had perfect view of the toilet. A carrier bird dodged the panels and flew through the tiny window. Gracefully, it swooped towards Genma, fierce pride burning its eyes. Then, it bounced off the glass into the toilet bowl, dead, a smear of blood on the transparent wall.

What the bird did not know was that the toilet was seperated into the washing area, and the mechanism where humans deposited undigested waste, by, unfortunately, a glass wall that its eyes failed to see because the dim area reflected little light.

Sighing, Genma wet the towel hanging by the sink, wiped the stain, washed the towel, and plunged his hands into the toilet bowl. He undid the scroll on the bird's leg, and flushed it down the drain, twisting the knob three times. As the scroll was typed, no ink came off, and the three disgruntled men could read the soggy parchment clearly.

The Council has requested that one team be made for a special mission. One member from the Archivists Agency, one from the

Counter Terrorist Network, one from ROOTS. To report to the ANBU Boardroom by noon.

Sawayarano Tetoku

AA-12

Ibiki stood up at once. "I'll go get another messenger bird, and I can report to the Boardroom at the same time. So no worries."

But the other two men retaliated at once.

"My hands are already dirty, it's only fair that both of you don't have to be stained by filth," Genma countered.

"No, no, I will only be able to quit smoking by doing this!" Sarutobi shouted lamely.

Thirty minutes passed. As the master of interrogation and psychology, Ibiki was winning by light years. So Genma took a coin from his wallet. "We should settle this by luck. After all, luck decides the success of mission most of the time. I choose heads."

"Heads," Ibiki said, thinking that Genma would somehow alter the game.

"Tails," Asuma said, not thinking at all.

Genma released his suckered thumb, and the coin spun high, and landed spinning on the table. It did its last revolution, heads up. Ibiki let out a bated breath, the coin hit the pencil holder, and it stopped, tails up.

"YES!" Asuma screamed, a wad a phlegm and his cigarrette going into Ibiki. Snatching up the wet parchment, he ran out of the building before the other two could kill him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ROOTS department. The only way for a ninja to locate the place would be to follow a messenger bird, where only two birds were trained to locate the first set-up. As the first bird, which had dodged the nasty obstacles of a toilet only to fly smack into a wall had died, there was only one trained bird left. That particular trained bird arrived at the first set up, the building of the ANBU Headquarters.

Then, a runner would take the message, run to the ANBU underground base, step through many secret passages, and run up a staircase to the second set-up, where he would pass the scroll to a junior ROOTS operative at a hidden alcove filled with seals. Biting his thumb, the operative would use the blood to activate the seals around him, which was sensitive only to certain DNA. With that, the runner would see nothing except an empty chamber with deactivated seals.

Danzou read the scroll, pleasure showing on his face. He had a wind of what the Council was planning to do, and at last, it was his chance.

"Sai, Renzo," Danzou said to the boys in front of him. Pale face with blank, expressionless eyes registered to the names. "You will be called Sai and Renzo for this mission. Do not fail. You know the ROOTS code."

'Sai' and his partner nodded, took the damp scroll, and disappeared,

Danzou rested his face on a hand, laughing bitterly. _I can finally show you what happens to people who reject ROOTS. No, me. Uchiha Itachi._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Third Hokage just stared at Asuma, Tetoku, Renzo, and Sai. A frown was etched on his features. He turned to the Council. "Is this really necessary?"

"Yes. It's the most efficient way of getting rid of them."

_What is this, are they planning to kill them?_ Asuma asked himself.

"Very well." Asuma suddenly realised how much hate was in the Kage's eyes.

"Sarutobi, Sawayanaro, Renzo, Sai. This mission has been ranked as S. We would give you a team, but the Council has decided that no more manpower should be wasted. This mission is to assasinate the Uchiha brothers, Kazuhiko Rukawa, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and the Sabaku siblings. This is to be done after they finish the mission, which is also inside this scroll. But if they are dead, nothing is needed, and you can join the Counterattack. Set off today."

"Wait, Hokage-sama. May I ask the reason for this 'mission'?" Asuma spat.

"No, ninja, just do what you're told," a Council member said, an irritable smirk on his lips.

"Well, I'm not doing this (bleep)ing mission then. Find someone else. From AA, from ROOTS, whatever. But don't approach us, we don't want to be tainted by your stupid mentalities!" Asuma slammed the door behind him, his previous elation disappearing.

The very same Council member recovered easily, his face still sporting that stupid smirk. "Very well. Sawayanaro, get an agent from your department. Nothing in the mission has changed. Just kill them as fast as possible."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, what do you think?" Renzo asked. Sai shrugged his shoulders. The man called Sarutobi had seemed angry, but what of it. It did not concern him. He did not know anger anyway. All he felt was this strange sensation he did not comprehend whenever… he squashed those feelings. Those were useless to ROOTS. But Renzo, Renzo always had his own opinions. Sai even suspected that the man had feelings.

"Well, I think that this is something we have to report to Danzou. AA could be a problem. They've always had problems with fights, even if they're brainiacs."

Danzou smiled when he heard the news. "At last, the Council has done something useful. They've started to repay some debts for passing over me during the Hokage nominations. I'll send Furuo's team with you. Kill the AA members and carry on with the mission. They can be casualties."

Sai and Renzo nodded.

Sai returned to his room to pack his things. He opened his sketch book and sketched. It was in the middle now. This would be his last drawing, to be completed after the mission. Then he could give it to… He wondered, then, wondered why he was doing this. He was in ROOTS. _No emotions_, he told himself firmly. But when he left the room, he put the book into his pack.

Sai was the latest. When he arrived at the gates of the village, Renzo and the two AA members were already there. Nodding at each other, the group made off. Forty miles from the village, the ninjas stopped to rest.

"Hey, Renzo," Sawayanaro said. "Have you been getting the presence of another?"

Renzo sighed. This had been far too early. They had been planning on a hundred miles. Smiling widely at the Archivist Agent, Renzo said, "Good bye."

Five ROOTS agents suddenly landed behind Sawayanaro and Sawanozuki and slit the throats of both brothers. Sheathing the dagger, Furou ordered, "Search them, take whatever's useful, then dispose of them. Thirty minutes. We don't have much time to spare. Uchiha Itachi isn't mediocre, even to us."

Furou joined Sai and Renzo in their meal. Obviously, they were of higher status, like him. "So, what's the plan?"

Sai looked at Furou oddly. "Plan? There is no plan. We observe Team Seven until they finish their mission so that we can fill in the paperwork, then we engage them and kill them. That's all there is. Isn't this what ROOTS has always been doing?"

"Haven't you read the files on this team?" Furou asked the two ROOTS operatives. It was amazing how the cream of the crop could be so infuriatingly thick in the head. "Nevermind, but other than Haruno Sakura, the rest of them have at least five full folders on them. Five. Even the Sannins only had three each. And the boy, Kazuhiko Rukawa, only just joined, when he was seven, five years ago, but he has six. For one, I know that Uchiha Itachi rejected Danzou-sama in the face, without repercussions until now. He can handle two ROOTS single handed."

"It appears that we require a plan, Sai," Renzou stated, as if it was not obvious. Worry lines appeared on Sai's face.

"Very well, let's make a plan," said Sai.

_He gets it, at last! _Furou mentally slapped his forehead, almost saying the remark aloud. But if he disrespected Sai, he would surely be killed by the much younger boy. If there was one thing that Danzou-sama emphasized one, it was respect. He had heard stories of Sai smashing the faces certain rude operatives.

Sai narrowed his eyes at Furou. Did he possess telekinetic abilities? "Furou-san…"

"Yes, Sai?" Furou asked, suddenly afraid.

"Your men are slow."

_Slow? Slow! Their fast, I bet you that!_ Furou's eyes bulged. Renzo laughed, and then Furou caught it. Sai had read his mind, and he had played Furou as if he was a child. Then he saw a scene he would never forget. Sai smiled, only for a while, light flashing through his dead eyes for a moment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A week after seven Konoha ninjas had left the Hidden Leaf Village, seven nunekin Rain ninja reached the immigration posts of Otagukure. The seven ninjas had waited for three hours to inch from the end of the line to the front, with a tail of shinobis and kunoichis behind them. There were twenty counters, each with snide looking ninjas manning the stations. Typical evil-ninja-village scene.

Their officer looked up, but with no eye contact. Evidently, the Hidden Sound did not need customer service to attract nunekins. "What do you want?"

"The seven of us are from the Hidden Rain," Sasuke said, tapping his forehead protector, and he pulled the identification papers from his pack. They were slightly crumpled, but as the weedy shinobi ruffled through the papers, his expert eye did not detect anything amiss. The seals and signatures were perfect. "We escaped three weeks before, and have come to the Hidden Sound to offer our loyalty to it. All of us are Chuunin, and were drafted for ANBU. But we still decided to leave, a mark of our loyalty."

"Whatever." The Sound nin waved it off. The same old excuses, they never learnt. Just swap the words and it became their "introduction speech". "Your papers do look in order, and so does your uniform. However, this signature is slightly different. The 'y' has a large loop end. The others have the uniform narrow loops. Explain."

Sasuke never batted an eye, even though it was surprised. He passed a casual glance over the papers. Naruto's work. "Is that so? Maybe it was the last one that the kage signed. They tend to be a bit off in the end, in relief, you see."

The weedy Sound nin eyed Sasuke weedily. "Humph, I see. So what are the departments you would like to work in?"

"Anything that Orochimaru-sama would give us," Sasuke said, emphasizing on Orochimaru's name. He wanted to know how Otagakure was coping without a kage. The Sound nin appeared to be very uncomfortable and scared all of a sudden. "Orochimaru-sama is dead, killed in action in the Konoha invasion. Even the Sound five, his right hand man Kabuto, and his successor Kimimaro was killed. We are running under the Council now. But no worries, we will have another kage in no time."

Sasuke nodded empathetically. But inside he was thinking. _I thought he was stapled into the wall of one of the ANBU dungeons? So they sent a different message. Heh heh. No saving for you, Orochimaru. Even from the village you founded._ "I see. So what can we do?"

The immigrations officer recovered immediately. Seemed that Orochimaru's unlikely charisma only extended so far in the immigrations department. Understandable. They looked overworked and underpaid, and even twenty counters could not handle such overwhelming crowds. Even the nunekin queuing were overwhelmed. "You'll go to normal Chuunin, even if you were drafted for ANBU. Unless you were family, genin, or academy student, where you would start as genin, everyone starts from Chuunin, even Jounins. I hope you understand. We have… different expectations."

Sasuke nodded and gave a weary smile that showed a roughed up ninja put under too much stress that he had left the village. The Sound nin almost felt for the guy. After all, he had even considered becoming a nunekin and signing himself up. Printing out new papers, stamping several times on each sheet which was made of 75 percent nylon and 15 percent cotton, he finally scrawled three spiky signatures each.

Sasuke heard Naruto yelp as he watched their efforts go to waste under the shredder, so he stuffed their new identification papers into Naruto's hands, as his own heart bled seeing the Rain papers go to waste.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief when they finally escaped the immigration officer. "I though he was going to catch us for sure. But you were good, Sasuke."

Sasuke noted the lack of fawning over him, and smiled. "Thanks. But so are you. You've improved, Sakura. As a kunoichi. You're taking your job more seriously now. That's really great too."

Sakura blushed. Since when had Sasuke been dishing out compliments like a normal person, albeit one with limited social skills?

"I am normal, Sakura," Sasuke said, bemused.

Sakura's inner self exploded in shock. "How did you know-! I mean, mean… mean, of course you're normal. Why would I think that?"

Sasuke chuckled. "No, scratch that. You may have improved, but Naruto's growing off you."

"Teme! What did you mean by that?" Naruto roared, but all in good will.

"Shut up, the three of you, I'm sure several ninjas are observing us. Customary immigration procedures. You're giving us away. I doubt they'll think that we're Chuunin. More like free loading wack children," Gaara growled. Temari and Kankurou exchanged amused looks. Gaara had not given the "obey-me-and-die" look or said "I will kill you" yet. Yet. But they were pretty sure he would never obey that 'yet'.

Kankurou pointed to a nearby bar, which was slightly crowded. "We can discuss our next course of action there. With that many people, we can't be overheard."

They managed to find a booth. Even with the constant chatter, Team Seven spoke in low voices. Rukawa opened the pamphlet and map that the Sound nin had given them.

"The Sound archives are here. So, we should rent a place…" Rukawa passed his finger over the many names. "Here. It seems to be the perfect location. The room rates aren't expensive, and we'll have a clear view of one side of the archive. It's even behind another building, so we won't be noticed easily."

"Shouldn't we keep a certain distance between ourselves and the Archive? Like Gaara said, we could be under survelliance for a period of time," Sakura said.

"You misunderstood Gaara's point, Sakura," Kankurou said, not unkindly. "Distance is good, but if we're too far away, we'll have to walk all the way to the Archives often, which is very suspicious for new nunekins to walk by the Archives so often. But if we live near the building, it wouldn't seem suspicious to roam in the vicinity."

Gaara looked darkly at the innocent faces of Sakura and Naruto. _They don't even know such simple calculations?_ Rukawa touched his elbow. Gaara turned and read Rukawa's lips. _Don't worry. They can handle themselves in a fight perfectly well._

_Yes, I forgot myself._ Gaara mouthed back. Had his expressions been so easy to read? Temari smiled to herself as she watched Gaara. "You've always been easy to read, Gaara."

Gaara looked up sharply at the whisper. Kankurou was still explaining to Naruto. That was good.

Temari sipped her tea. It hadn't been true. He was always hard to read, though some expressions were easy. Last time, the easiest had been the very angry death glare. Nowadays, it seemed to be embaressment.

Then a figure appeared at their table. A man with wavy hair and calculating eyes. His skin was slightly tan. But what that caught their attention was the killing intent. Sasuke looked around. No one seemed to notice the intent. Itachi spoke up. "Yes, sir?"

"Don't sir me, Uchiha. I know you, I recognize you. That head protector on your head, I don't know how you got it, but I know that you are a Hidden Leaf."

"Uchiha? I believe that I am very much Mitaraki, sir. What do you want?" Itachi asked smoothly. The man laughed.

"Hmmph, don't play dumb now, Uchiha. Acting like a nunekin? Don't remember me? Zato Narami of the Hidden Rain. I came here after I was exiled. Luckily, I was hired as a bounty hunter here. According to my rules, you are in my bingo book."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. Then his eyes glinted dangerously as he gave a foxy smile. "Not bad, Zato Narami. But, let's settle this outside. I don't wish to disturb the peace here."

Zato shrugged in the very chaotic and noisy place. "Whatever."

"What is he doing? I thought I made it clear we shouldn't be attracting attention to ourselves?" Gaara hissed once his new sensei left. Sasuke smirked. "Don't worry, Gaara. Aniki isn't attracting attention to himself. In Otagakure, this is pretty common. And who'll be seeing him? Just sit back and relax."

Zato glared at Itachi. Itachi smiled darkly, he had already performed a string of seals without Sato noticing. All he had to do was to release the jutsu when Zato was performing his. But Zato had decided to go for the introductory "I-will-tell-you-why-I'm-killing-you-before-I-kill-you" package.

"Uchiha Itachi, you wiped out my master. Who knew that you would drop by here for me to kill you? Let me tell you this, I've perfected my techniques. I will kill you. Don't run."

Itachi shifted his foot, smirking. Zato reared back, then set forward, running, doing handseals. When Itachi was near, Zato threw his head forward, spewing acid. Itachi bent backwards, going into a crouched handstand, then kicked out, catching Zato in the stomach. Itachi followed through with his move and flipped over, standing up, as Zato crashed on the floor.

Zato growled and charged forward again. Itachi frowned. He was wasting time. He had hoped that Zato would just leave. Perhaps he didn't need to perform any jutsu. Keeping his chakra again, Itachi secretly drew a long dagger. Dodging Zato's acid spurts, Itachi slowly edged forward, ducked under, and swiped Zato under his feet. When Zato fell, Itachi thrust the dagger forward.

Zato put out his hand, catching the dagger in his hand, blood spurting. Then he grabbed Itachi in a hug, and threw his head forward. "Acid Spurt no jutsu!"

What that happened afterwards was what that only Sasuke could see through his level three Sharingan. Itachi lithely used his fingers to punch a few acupuncture points to slow Zato in half a scond before he could reach out with his other hand to clamp over Zato's neck and twist it.

Itachi let Zato fall off him, neck twisted, but unbroken, as the acid failed to exit the buccal cavity, blood and acid bubbling in his mouth. His eyes were bulging, tearing blood as the acid ate through his head. Patting his clothes, Itachi walked back into the restaurant.

"Great taijutsu, aniki," Sasuke said.

"Thanks."

"Itachi-sensei, what about his body?" Temari asked indifferently.

"Either rot, or some ninja will clear it up," Itachi answered, comfortable that he could finally do things the way they needed to be done: ruthlessly like a true ninja. Before that, those fights with Zabuzza and Haku and on other missions, they were held back, staged, unless there was a twenty percent risk of anyone of them getting killed, before he would go all out. It was like conforming to normal genin mindsets, to make them get used to the real world until they became true ninjas.

Naruto snapped up a salmon sashimi. "Itachi-sensei, how did you know that guy?"

"I don't really remember him, but since he knew me, I just went along with the act. I guess he was a guy from my chuunin days."

Naruto chomped a few more fish slices. "I still don't believe that I'm a Chuunin."

"You don't?" Itachi asked, amused. Naruto was a bit dim after all. "The guy's only about Chuunin, and he's twenty-nine."

"What! He's twenty-nine? Gawds, Itachi-sensei, I thought he was only twenty four. You must look old, sensei!" Naruto burst out laughing, spraying his teammates with squid bits.

A disturbing silence crept over the royally pissed gang. Naruto sweated. "Uh… hehe?"

And they booted him out onto the street.

Temari raised her hand. "But Itachi-sensei, I don't quite get it. Did you really have to kill him?"

Itachi placed his tea cup on the table. "I thought you would have a better measure of things than Naruto or Sakura, Temari. If I didn't kill him, what could I do? Capture him? If I just injured him, he could either babble to the Sound or somehow jeopardize our mission. Paralyse him? He would be better off dead. Anyway, we can't compromise anything."

Sakura bit her lip as she watched Temari blush. She herself had been planning to ask that question.

After the uneventful meal, Gaara led the way to the designated inn, SATAFS'S MOTEL. They met their first obstacle at the counter. An extremely overweight woman. She appeared to be in her mid fifties, with black curls that were so precise they looked waxed, and at the nape of her nonexistent neck, an add on wig. Her overall face was squashed, with puffy eyelids that squeezed her eye balls inwards. Her nose was punched in and her lips were thin and stretched to both ends of her eyes as she smiled disgustingly. Her cheeks were so tough with fats than they made her face seem flat. She looked to be in a permenant state of a swelling bullfrog. All in all, it was a morph of frog with pig snout and human colours.

But at least her body wasn't so flat and bloated with fats, it had large curves. Small breasts, but large curves around her mid section. Sakura giggled. With that lump pushing her lumps up, she doubted that the woman needed bra.

Rukawa raised his eyebrows at the bended table, which helped her large hips support the tyre, which was probably skin wrapped over ten tyres. Her frog-pig face was red from the effort of breathing, and he could see why. Her legs dangled over the tiny chair, stretching her tweed skirt so much that Kankurou could see through the frayed strands and under the buttons. Under normal circumstances, a male would have blushed, but this girl's ass wasn't nice at all.

Sasuke was most interested with her voice. It was almost like her features, a cross between a pig squeal and a toady croak. The hybrid effect wasn't glamourous. It came out tinny and high pitched, with the roughness of a croak. "How can I help you?"

He was stunned. He had been expecting animal speak.

When they collected the room keys from her pig trotters, Itachi heard a cacophony of croaks. She had farted. _Man,_ he thought,_ even the smell comes with swamp._

"Hey, I dunno if she knows this, but even her name is an anagram of fatass," Kankurou said.

Naruto laughed spraying the coke he had been drinking on his teammates. "Ha! Gaara, I thought she looked a bit like you in Shukaku."

A disturbing silence crept over the royally pissed gang. Naruto sweated. "Uh… hehe?"

And they booted him out of the window.

"Okay," Itachi called to his subordinates, his eyes twitching as he moped the coke from his face. "Sasuke, Gaara, Kankurou, Naruto, and Sakura will go scout around, remember, the Sound aren't as wussy as the Hidden Rain. Temari, Rukawa, and I will ask around, get it?"

"Hai!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Okay, another mission, finally. Satafs was a personal snide, so don't worry if you didn't get it, but other than the smell, everything is accurate. When I wrote that, I was probably hating a certain subject.

As for the (bleeping), I censored stuff out, though you can guess, because I didn't think that shit covered it.

The hit levels are high, which is good, but the number of reviews... Anyway, I'll be turning 14 on Tuesday. Cool. And 17 is my jersey number.

Hope I got the Gaara-thing right. This time, I promise to get the next chapter uploaded quick, as long as this com doesn't stab me in the back.

Please review, it's appreciated.


	14. Chapter Thirteen Mind of the Uchiha

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Following up on one of Edengrave's reviews, I'll be differentiating Sasuke from Rukawa and Itachi much more. If you think this change is so dumb I should be wacked into the floor, tell me and I will improve on making Sasuke more different. My excuse for Sasuke's change? The war changed his outlook. The psychotherapy he's had to go through from the trauma cleared his mind.

Also, canon's Sasuke is supposed to be a genius. Frankly, I think he should've graduated the same year as the Uchiha Massacre in the manga if he really wanted to go after his brother, and he's a supposed genius. Man.

Okay, a chapter behind schedule. Thanks for the reviews.

**Edengrave**: For some reason, I got scared when you wrote REAListic. Not your fault though, dunno why I suddenly got the chillsfor this review. But keep continuing though. Heh heh. Okay, the weirdities of the Council… during the Tazuna Bridge thing in the canon, Haku talked about how hated the advanced bloodlimits were, but Sasuke was loved. So I didn't quite get this. And the thing about Ninja being tools, the Council is pretty wacked. Nevermind, the later chapters will deal with them. As for ROOTS, this is probably my own misunderstanding of Danzou's control. Hehe. Hokage's control will be revealed bit by bit. And nooooooo…. No new villages. Hahaha.

**Wanabereader:** Yup, turned 14 on Tuesday. Ate a chocolate cake and got a Dear Boys Art Book!!!!

**Aknut:** Thanks for Kamui again. His past is quite different from the first NR we did.

**Shuuwai: **Nice to know it's an interesting story. Hmmm… I'm a hamster? Yup. I supposedly look like a hamster because of _someone_. But I don't think so.

**Chapter Thirteen Mind of the Uchiha**

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke was walking up the wall with chakra when a guard materialised from thin air and swiped him off the wall onto the floor.

"Your purpose, ninja?"

Sasuke's heart hammered fast. This was an ANBU equivalent, one of those Team Seven had been commisioned to kill. He had two things to do. One was to avoid getting taken in, the other would be to get some information out of him.

His body was panicking, but his mind was doing surprisingly well. It was like a vast, calm sea, hardly a ripple. Soon, his heart learnt to calm down too. He kept a smirk from his face as he stuttered out, "Wha-What do you want?"

The guard put a palm on Sasuke's chest and waited. Sasuke wondered what he was doing for a moment when he realised, _he's feeling for my heartbeat! _Speeding up his heartbeat by confusing his mind, Sasuke hid a smirk again. The only message that this ninja would be getting was that he, Uchiha Sasuke, was scared out of his wits by the rapid heartbeat.

"What was a shinobi with a chakra level like yours doing on a wall around the Sound Archives?"

Sasuke frowned. If this ninja could somehow read his chakra count, then… "I- I just immigrated here. I'm registering as a genin today."

"At the Archives?" The guard did not sound too convinced.

"Isn't this the Academy?" Sasuke asked innocently.

"No," the guard answered gruffly. "Your name?"

He recalled to the time at immigrations.

_A small boy flashed before his eyes. Brown hair and green eyes. Five heads shorter than he was. He was holding on to his mother, a woman, into her thirties. "Yuta, pass it to the man." At that time, Sasuke had wondered why the female had even given her son the passports. Then the immigrations officer, very irritated, had said, "Mrs. Tayuki, please handle your son and give me your papers. There are people other than you and your son."_ Sasuke put the two names together.

"My name? It's Tayuki Yuta, mister," Sasuke said as innocently and as politely as he could. A flash of recognition crossed the guard's eyes, as if he had scrolled names mentally through his brain and cross referenced them. "I see, this is your warning, ninja, that tresspassing top secret government property leads to death."

_So much for the attractions of Otagakure_, Sasuke thought sacarstically. If Konoha ever opened up a Free Immigration Policy, the Sound would have almost zero business.

"O-Okay."

Leaving "Yuta Tayuki" to tremble in his shoes, the odd guard marched off.

Sasuke revealed his smirk. The Sound ninja had revealed many things. First of all, the guards were not human. More like, they used to be. Zombies. His sudden materialisation in the air was exactly as it was. Materialisation, not just a figure of description. By coming so close to Sasuke and letting him see him face first, Sasuke had seen the kanjis and seals on the neck of the guard beneath the wide collar. The inscription all pointed to Once Dead Living Material. Also, all the physical quirks of the ninja was far too unnatural to be human.

Secondly, the Sound Archives was more than a simple building keeping the village records. In Konoha, any ninja could access the archive, it was not, as the guard put it, "top secret government property", it was a public facility, which was why Naruto had stolen the Forbidden Jutsus Scroll so easily.

Thirdly, chakra was not allowed on the Archives Site, but not outside the site, as he had approached the wall using a camouflage genjutsu. He had only been caught when he stepped on the wall. The guards' sensitivity to chakra was further confirmed when the guard told him so. Sasuke also deduced that they only sensed chakra levels when they touched the target, if not they would have caught him a long way back.

Sasuke walked away from the Archive buildings. He reached up, as if to scratch his head, secretly tuning the communicator attached to his ear beneath his hair. The zombie guards probably could not sense electronics, if not it would be gone.

"Sasuke calling Naruto. Over."

"Yep? Over."

"I've been uncovered, I can't approach Archives for today. Carry on with your mission, but once you sense something amiss, come back immediately. I'll be at the inn. Over."

"Received. Over and out."

Sasuke tuned down his communicator again. Sasuke walked to Satap's Inn, his mind forming various vague plans, filing, cross-referencing every bit of information with each idea, his mind still crystal clear.

I guess the psychotherapy has helped a lot.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rukawa strolled through the streets casually alongside Itachi, who was slouching, shuffling his feet. Both of them had not worn their head protectors, in case the Rain Village had pissed off the people they intended to ask.

"The bar to the left. You carry on ahead," Itachi murmured.

"Okay." Without skipping a pace, Rukawa stopped at a vendor's and purchased a fruit, letting Itachi continue on.

Ignoring the Under-Eighteen's Not Allowed sign, Itachi pushed the door open and shuffled into the bar. The atmosphere was shady, a couple of woman in skimpy dresses were seducing shinobis. Spotting a lone ninja who was downing spirits like cokes, Itachi dropped into the seat beside him.

He didn't flinch when a kunai stabbed the table.

The ninja glared at him. "What dja' want from me?"

Itachi called for a gin. He waited until the glass slid to a stop before he smirked lazily at the ninja. "Nothing. Just wanna know why a Sound nin would be so down."

"None of your business."

Itachi sighed, letting the man interpret it as nonchalance. "The Konoha invasion?"

Another kunai stabbed the table. Itachi smirked. "You're alive, like me, what's there to sob about?"

"Quit it. I've had it with the cheer-him-up act."

Itachi waited. _Emotional ninjas like these drone on and on and on like human hosepipes._

"They're all going on about how Orochimaru was kind and everything. The great man. My foot. The great saviour lost us everything." The ninja downed a cup. "He lost me my brother."

Itachi let the cup revolve in his hand. "Your brother? Was he in the frontlines?"

"Yeah. He didn't have to leave… he didn't have to take the spot for me!"

Itachi gazed at his drink indifferently. "Know how you feel. Seven of my teammates were killed."

The ninja looked up at Itachi in shock. "You're still living?"

"Yeah. Sometimes it hurts to live," Itachi said truthfully, keeping his voice level. He decided to put some drama into his voice. "I… I was the captain."

"Man, looks like we're in the same position." The man was finally opening up. "So what's your name?"

"Washizouku Ten. Yours?"

"Hmm, nice name, Washi. Meesa' Wanami. But I've never heard of you."

"You shouldn't. Came here as a nunekin from the Sand."

"Why? Shouldn't you be helping manpower there?" A bit of coldness crept into the man's voice. Itachi had to act fast.

"I am helping. It might cost my life, but it'll save hundreds. Heard of revenge?"

By this time, the Sound ninja was half awake. "Yeah, I've heard it, I've considered it."

Itachi looked at Wanami squarely in the eyes lazily. "Want to join forces with me?"

Wanami smirked, his eyes half closed. He thought for some time, then lifted his glass. "Agreed."

Itachi smirked and lifted his own tiny glass. "Cheers to our partnership then."

_Not bad_, Itachi thought as he gulped down the gin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Rukawa had turned four blocks to meet up with Temari, as planned. He tossed his fruit into the bins and joined in her walk. "Itachi's got one catch."

"I seriously don't know what to do, Rukawa. Who do I target?" Temari asked.

"You're new at this? I thought that you've been through B and A missions with Gaara. Surely you did recon and stakeouts?"

"Gaara worked differently before he lost the Sand Priest."

"Hn. Shop for a good weapon, a katana or something. Anything. Test the waters with the seller. Make him know that you'll buy something, then he'll be softened. Then see if he's loyal to Orochimaru. If he is, just by something very cheap and move on. If not, poke him around for info."

"Okay."

"Bye." And Rukawa broke away from Temari, leaving her where she was. Looking aroung at her surroundings, she realised that Rukawa had led her to the weapon making district. She chuckled. _Damn you, Rukawa._

Rukawa disappeared through a couple of blocks till he finally neared the Sound Ninja Academy. Stepping into the sunlight, he softened his walk into a jaunt, and tried to make his face seem more innocent.

A couple of students were going to play hide and seek. He ran up to them. "Hey, can I play?"

A red haired boy stared at him. "Never seen you before!"

Rukawa acted dumb and scratched his head furiously. "Ah… my parents just moved here. I'm new! My name's Ro, nice to meet you!"

Their faces lightened up considerably. Then the red haired boy announced smugly. "I'm the seeker. You'd better hide quick, Ro, cos' I'm the best seeker here."

"Nobu, don't be so mean!" A girl shouted shrilly.

The red head ignored her and turned around and counter. "One… two… three… four…"

The girl grabbed Rukawa's arm and whispered. "Let's go!"

He and his partner found a place on the rooftop, behind a few bins.

"This village seems a bit scary."

"Yeah, I don't like it either, but my mom said that my dad went to war on the Hidden Leaf. We're really low on man power, and people've been saying that our kage, Orochimaru-sama, is dead."

"Hmmm." Rukawa decided that the girl wasn't very bright, sharing information the way she did. "Hey, what's that place?"

"Oh! It's the archives. You know, I overheard my cousin telling my father that they place has a secret labatory where Orochimaru-sama keeps humans. But who believes it?"

"Really," Rukawa asked, acting scared.

"Yeah," the girl seemed extremely enthusiastic to share information. She seemed to be the most light hearted child in the village, and extremely naiive for an thirteen year old, as he judged from her height. "My cousin said that Orochimaru-sama came from the Hidden Leaf, and he'd been experimenting on humans, they say he's carrying it out here, and he's found a way to summon…. Hanyous!"

Once the girl switched topics, he decided that she wasn't useful. Plucking out a kunai, he swiftly cut her jugular vein. Careful to leave the fountain of blood spewing someplace else other than on his person, he walked away.

The red haired seeker, who had sneaked up on them, opened his mouth to scream.

Rukawa got up in a flash and cut the boy down. Too many children had seen his face. He doubted they would forget him, he had made quite an appearance to get their trust. If these two were found dead, the children would definitely point to him.

In five minutes, he had tracked all of them down and killed them all, aiming for the neck. When he had finished on the last child, he disappeared into the market place, dropping the kunai into one of the many rubbish bins lining the street.

He remembered, when they had passed through the immigrations centre, staring at the bingo board. Wanami Ichiron had been recently put up as a pathological killer, with five stars on his head. All of his victims had been cut swiftly on the neck.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Itachi sensed danger even before he turned around. He heard a whistle of metal in the air, and ducked instinctively, not before a sharp blade nicked his face. He turned his Sharingan on immediately and whirled around. His blood seemed to float in the air compared to him, as he put a boot on Wanami's chest and kicked him away.

Shock crossed Wanami's face, but it was short lived as his eyes glinted and his mouth curled maniacally. As Itachi stood defensively before him, he got up and licked his dagger.

Itachi drew a kunai from his holster. After he had gained all the information Wanami had at the bar, he had led Wanami on the pretence of bringing the man to his "base where all the guerillas" were for Wanami to join the non-existent "brotherhood", with the intent to kill Wanami in this dark alleyway.

Who knew, Wanami did have a desire to rebel against Orochimaru, but the death of his brother had driven the man crazy. Itachi took in Wanami's ragged pupils, indicating loss of individual sense and madness. Then he remembered why Wanami looked so familiar. His face had been pasted on the billboards. Sound nin Wanami Ichiron, A-ranked criminal.

Itachi growled and charged. He had fouled up.

Wanami sniggered and raised his dagger. As he brought the knife down, two things happened.

Itachi took hold of Wanami's armed hand and twisted it so sharply it was ripped from it's sockets, then used his own weapon and drove the tip through the man's heart.

The second thing was that, as Wanami fell, he realised. _This guy moved so fast the things around suddenly seemed unreal. The people behind me, even myself. He was so quick, so quick, I might as well have been a dummy._

_Heh heh… Ototo, Aniki here is coming home_, Wanami Ichiron thought madly as he fell, blood gushing out of the hole in his chest.

Itachi waited until the crimson fountain had receded into a trickle, then took Wanami's Sound head protector off. Team Seven might have been accepted into Sound as real ninjas, but the manufacturing of head protectors took time, and they only had Rain head protectors. A week was what the receptionist had told them.

Careful to not leave any traces as he wiped up his blood from the ground, he poured an acid onto the spot from a vial in his pouch. The acid would eat away the ground, leaving only a slight dent. Any good ninja would see it, recognise it, but such substances were standard and no one would be able to pin point it on anybody.

Then the Uchiha prodigy disappeared from the alley, as if he had never been there before.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Report you findings," Itachi said through a mouthful of instant ramen. All of them would be catching ramenphobia soon, with Naruto handling their dinners.

Kankurou raised his hand fist. "These are the trails that the guards take, and this is the list of the identification numbers on their lapels. More importantly, once Sasuke informed all of us, I didn't use chakra when I went into the area. But, the way that these guards move, it's more unnatural than than my puppets, like their zombies."

"I have something to contribute in this area," Sasuke said. He placed drawings of the kanji and seals he had seen on the zombie guard's neck earlier that day, using the Sharingan to copy them perfectly, on the table. Then he explained his deductions and suggestions.

After discussing on the guards, Gaara and Naruto contributed their piece of the pie.

They had copied the trails of every guard for the day on sheets of tracing paper, all proportional to each other. When they were put in one pile, everything was clear at once.

Gaara circled an area with his finger. "As you can see, this is the only place where no guard touches, but using the vision capacities of the sentries posted on the roof top, this is the only place which is guarded most closely from above."

"Either the guards can't come into the place, or they've been ordered not to. But since this area is so closely watched but physically avoided, we've decided on the first option," Naruto said.

Rukawa and Itachi put in their information about Orochimaru being able to summon minor Hanyous (demons), and conducting secret experiments.

"I couldn't come up with much other than the fact that the Otogakure government has not purchased any weapons ever since a year after the village was founded. The weapon manufacturing business only thrives because of all the ninjas and nunekins flowing into this village. It's not very useful," Temari admitted.

"Not as useless as you think, Temari," Sasuke said. "This further emphasizes Orochimaru's many experiments. This shows that Orochimaru's experiments first became useful within one year, and he didn't need to rely on normal weapons to protect the village. And if he was able to progress so far within such a short time, then these eleven years down the road… his biotech advancement must be far beyond our imaginations."

_Good deduction, ototo_, Itachi thought to himself. Another positive side of war.

"So, same thing tomorrow. Gaara, Kankurou, construct a basic blueprint of the Archive building tomorrow. Abort immediately at the first glitch. If you're in trouble, set your communication waveline to maximum. The static will alert the others. I don't want any deaths on our team, got it?"

"Hai, sensei."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The seconds ticked away. He wanted to sleep, to rest. The clock ticked, it was like a lullaby, lulling him to dream world. Slowly, as the minutes crawled by, his eyes closed peacefully.

_He opened his eyes, and saw the cold eyes of his master. He felt the painful lashes on his half naked body again, drawn from the long, four-tailed cord in Shisui's hand. Shisui threw the bucket away, its icy contents now covered him. He blinked the blood and water away, fear welling up in him again._

"_Asleep… again," Shisui noted dispassionately, and whipped him. Kazuya felt like screaming at the white pain, but was strangled by the bound over his mouth, and could only feel blood trickling down, to his toes, then dripping off. He trembled. Whether it was from his fear, or from the pain, he didn't know. He just hoped that Shisui would let him down._

_He was suspended in the air by one wrist, tied to an overhead beam. His other hand hung at his side, ripped bloody by the whip._

"_Let us continue. Up," Shisui walked over around him to face the bloody back and struck it with his cord, grinning in satisfaction as four deep lines were drawn, and at the obviously pained body._

_Gritting from the pain, Kazuya pulled himself up by his one arm, let himself down, then up again, doing it as fast as he could, fearful of the whip. But everytime he had to rest, more bloody streaks would come, and he would pull himself vertically up. He could feel tears now. He looked pleadingly at Shisui. Make it stop… Please… Make it stop… But the lashes rained down again. The tears were spilling now, he was too scared. He couldn't pull upwards anymore. Finally the whipping stopped._

"_Up."_

_He just cried more, trying to spit the gag out. Shisui needed to know that he couldn't… maybe he would spare him this once, just this once. Shisui seemed to read the sentences in his tearing eyes, and removed the gag._

"_Yes?" The voice was cold, devoid of compassion. He trembled, stuttering, "Shisui-sama, I- I… can't d-do it. I-I'm s-s-so sorry. P-please."_

_Shisui looked at him for a while, and he untied the bound, letting the boy drop to the floor. He winced at the bruises forming, but he looked pleadingly at Shisui. His master squatted beside him, his eyes softening. "You are crying, you need to be beyond tears, maybe never fear, but beyond tears, Kazuya. You can't do it?"_

_He heard the dangerous note in Shisui's voice, but he was too weak to think. "Y-y-yes, Sh-Shisui-sama. I'm so s-sorry…"_

_Then Shisui grabbed his hair and tugged him up. He yelped in pain. The eyes of the glowing Sharingan was cold. He had been stupid to think he could beg, but he really couldn't…_

"_I will teach you today, Kazuya, to not cry, but to obey me. You have failed me."_

_Then the grip on his hair released, he was falling, then the fist dug into his stomach, and threw him off, into the wall. He knew he looked like a quivering mass, like a wet dog, and he was still crying. But he had to stop it. He raised his arms as Shisui stalked over, but his master kicked him, and he fell to his side. _

_The man kicked his ribs over and over again, smacking his head to the wall. He was sure a rib was cracked now, his side was in fiery agony. Then Shisui clamped over his small neck, and he clutched Shisui's arm weakly, the air was going, he was choking on his tears. Using his free hand, Shisui punched him everywhere, not caring where it landed, then he flung the boy away like a rag doll. _

"_Don't cry," he ordered. But Kazuya was sniffing fearfully, and using the last of his strength, he scrambled into a prostrate. "P-please, Shisui-sama! I won't cry!"_

_Shisui kicked him. "Then why are you crying?"_

"_N-no.." He begged, too weak to protect himself, his body jerking from the kicks. After what that seemed like an eternity, his body was finally burning, his arms, his ribs, all broken up, he wondered why he couldn't see flames, but he subconciously knew it was the pain._

_Shisui observed the boy. He was crying, but it wasn't tears, it was blood._

"_You have finally learnt."_

_Flashing through medical handseals, Shisui then healed the boy. Finally, the fire of pain had been doused, but there was still a heavy throb. Then Shisui took his hand, bandaging it, wounding around the bleeding, broken blisters gently. Kazuya looked up greatfully at his master, still covered in dirt, his hair matted with blood. Then he recoiled in fear. It was the same leather strip he had been gripping on when he was…_

_Shisui lifted him up into a vertical position, tying him to the post again. Kazuya could feel fear again, more intense then ever. He was trembling hard, but there were no tears, he realised._

_Shisui took up the four tailed whip again._

"_Up."_

Rukawa woke up abruptly, scrambling out of his duvet and backing away from the darkness. His chest was rising and falling heavily. Trying to calm himself down, he walked out of the room into the kitchen and gave himself a cold drink. _Why am I recalling all that? Why now? Is it the trauma from the war? Why would I get trauma? Why was it all reawakened?_

He sat on the bar, thinking, the cold mug in his hands. The lights flipped on. Rukawa looked up, surprised.

"What's up?" Itachi whispered. "Never seen you look surprised before."

"Nothing," Rukawa replied in the same hushed tones when Itachi approacked. Then he saw Itachi's skeptical look and admitted, "Okay, there's something."

Rukawa took a gulp out of his mug.

"I've been having nightmares… or flashes of memory… of my… days of becoming a ninja with Shisui," he said difficultly.

Itachi nodded, trying to understand, though he knew that he would never truly understand the pain and trauma Rukawa went through. No wonder he looked tired. "So, you haven't been sleeping for the past twenty days?"

"… yeah, now that you've made it seem so long," Rukawa smiled weakly. "Hey, I'll probably look over the plans now and come up with something, since I'm not sleeping. You can go back to bed."

Itachi blocked Rukawa's path with two strides. "Genjutsus? Medicine? I'm sure there's something for this."

"Itachi," Rukawa said, almost in a sigh. "If I'd been successful, I would be asleep by now. Nothing works, I've only been caught in those nightmares even longer."

Rukawa could be stubborn if he wanted to. Closing his eyes in defeat, feeling tired himself, Itachi nodded and went back to the room. Collecting the papers, Rukawa sat on the high stools this time, an elbow resting on the bar table as he flipped through the notes. There was definitely something about the Archives, as if they were doing some secret research. The rumours circulating in town, then the findings. Orochimaru was smart, he would have looked through the security systems, and any professional would have seen the loophole. He would ask Sakura to swap places with him tomorrow or something.

Darkness was creeping into the sides of his vision, and he took another sip of cold water. Ten seconds later, he felt fatigue again. _Not working._ There was only one option then. Locking himself in the toilet, he hooked his legs over the bar where the shower curtain's hung and started doing sit ups in that position.

There, he trained until he heard the first mumble of Naruto. Panting and sweating, feeling that his abdomen was killing him, he took off his clothes and ran a cold shower, taking any residue sleepiness from his system. After he brushed his teeth, he unlocked the door, and Naruto yawned in.

"Morning, Rukawa…"

"Morning."

"Morning… Rukawa," Sakura greeted, half asleep as she made coffee.

"Morning. Hey, Sakura," Rukawa said. "Could we swap places today? I need to confirm something, it was in the notes, something I need to know."

"Sure," Sakura said. _Hell yeah! Staking out is boring, yeah!_

"Morning," Sasuke greeted, moving over. "You look dead, Rukawa."

"Still breathing," Rukawa laughed softly.

"You were up pretty early," Sasuke hinted beneath his smile. Of course Sakura, did not know what he was talking about. To her, it was just casual conversation.

"Yeah. Was looking through the notes. And stuff."

Sasuke looked at him for a moment longer before joining Naruto in the toilet. To brush his teeth, of course.

After Sakura made breakfast of chiken porridge with century egg, Temari finally said that she had enough.

"Did I give you too much food, Temari? I'm really sorry," Sakura apologised.

Temari shook her head impatiently. "Not you. Kankurou's the problem. I'll go wake him!"

She hopped off her stool, grabbing her battle fan off the wall. Naruto shivered as several loud whacks echoed from the room. The room wasn't supposed to echo, for heaven's sake. He hoped that Kankurou was okay.

"No need to worry," Gaara said gruffly. "Kankurou's head has become hard by now."

…_by now? _The original Team Seven shivered. They felt really sorry for Kankurou.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shisui was not dressed in his Akatsuki cloak. No matter what the big guns said, he preferred professional subtlety. He was dressed in a black tuxedo, the buttons undone to reveal the trendy collared shirt under his jacket. His orange hair was gelled back neatly in slick strips. Instead of a renegade ninja, he looked like a skilled assasin, or just a rich man's son.

Across him sat his partner Kamui, who had donned a black jacket and trousers, with a striped collared shirt underneath. Kamui sliced a piece of beef and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly. "Shisui, remind me why we are in such a posh restaurant, so far from the Hidden Leaf Village."

Shisui cut up his own fish. "Sorry, Kamui, I 'forgot' to inform you. My sources say that our jinchuukri has left his village for the Hidden Sound. Anyway, this hotel is known for its excellent food and onsen. Since we are funded by the Akatsuki, we might as well enjoy ourselves. Let Naruto finish his mission, but he would surely have to pass by this place, and we'll be waiting for him."

"What happens if he fails?"

Shisui smirked and lifted his wine glass to his lips. "He will not. I expect more from a Jinchuukri. Furthermore, Uchiha Itachi is his Jounin mentor."

"Uchiha…?"

"Yes."

"What a coincidence. Will you take him down then? I can handle the Jinchuukri perfectly well on my own."

"No need. He is yours. Do not underestimate him. His power, should still be around the same as yours. As for the Jinchuukri and his teammates, I believe Kimimaro can take them down easily."

"And you?"

Shisui smirked again, draining the red wine. After awhile he smacked his lips. "Kazuya is on the team."

Kamui of course, as Shisui's partner, had heard all about the orphan. "I see. Very well then. I'm leaving it to you. Will you kill him this time?"

"Perhaps. Or I could toy with him a bit longer."

Kamui smiled. His partner was a good man.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rukawa shimmied down the wall, the end of his heels digging into the tiny space that the ledge provided. People said it was a drainage system, but it was actually just what it was, an aesthetic design. Walls did not require drainage, and this fact only led him to believe that Sound architects were mediocre. Looking over the wall for a split second, he hoisted himself up and rolled into the branches of the tree beside him, just as two guards walked into view.

Hiding in the shades of the many branches, Rukawa swung to another branch for a better view, and made a mark on his map. After that, he dropped to the ground softly, and ran to another tree within the second's time frame. True enough, another guard came in, holding a spear. The guard walked down to the tree where Rukawa previously had been in and started to wave the leaves away.

_Did he see me? No, from the way he's checking, its routine. Okay, another mark into my book. _Pulling himself onto the wall, he flipped over to the other side, letting his finger hold the edge of the wall, until he felt the ledge. Landing on the earth, Rukawa quickly stepped away from the building. A patrol of guards were checking the outside.

He pulled out a sheet and camouflaged himself into the shadows of the wall and let the guards pass. _Six._

Rukawa pulled himself out of the ground and marked on his book. So far, he had spotted thirty guards, and for this shift and area. To be able to deploy that many guards to protect just an archive, even konoha only had a maximum of twenty five. Either Sound had a lot of people, or the archive had loads of information.

But it was time to check out the empty space he had spotted last night. He scanned the area. There was an emergency escape ladder up one building five blocks down. According to his calculations, it was twenty metres away from the destination. _Perfect._

After he had climbed up halfway, he let go of the handle bars and allowed himself to fall. With his back parellel to the ground but his legs in a crouching position, Rukawa then propelled himself, off the ladder, over the wall, and into the leaves of another tree. Before he continued, he marked his book once more as he saw two guards walking past. As the guards walked pass, Rukawa gently lowered himself onto the ground. Eyeing the guards and looking at the ground for traps, he stuck close to the wall as he made his way to the other tree. Once they rounded the corner and another guard came from behind, he dropped to the ground, laying among the tall grasses.

This time he frowned. It was the guard who was checking all of the trees. As he stepped off the path onto the grass, spear in hand, it was clear that Rukawa needed to move away, or hide.

With his eyes on the guard, he waited until the man,or zombie had his head turned up at the tree canopy when he swiftly sat up, grabbed a rock and hurled it at the tree to the left of the tree that he had just jumped off. Then he fell facedown on the ground silently again, satisfied that the rock had hit its mark, snapping through three branches then embedding into the trunk loudly.

He imagined the guard looking at the tree, then heard footsteps moving away from him towards that tree. Quickly, he scrambled up without a sound and climbed up the next tree. As the guard poked around the tree he broke, Rukawa slid over the wall and hopped onto the roof of the building beside the archives.

Blinking weariness from his eyes, Rukawa tensed as a figure landed beside him.

"Yeah?" Rukawa asked, having seen Sasuke head towards him.

"Made much progress?"

"No, there's something I want to check. So far, the loophole from yesterday has been left as a loophole. Have you made contact with the others? Or am I the first?"

"You're the first. Naruto is still covering his post pretty well. I reckoned that I should come over here."

"Why?"

"Kankurou only got in Gaara's way for snooping the building, so he came out and took my place."

"Good, I need your view on this. Let's say, during the night we have even more guards than this. Do you think that the most effective method is to use a large diversion in the front gate, or to use stealth, picking them off silently?"

"A large diversion, not only will we create large chaos and unsettle the guards, but a large number can be finished off at the same time. This way we can concentrate our efforts on recovering lost Konoha material," Sasuke replied after a moment's thought.

"Very good," Rukawa told Sasuke. "I wanted to-!"

Both of them threw themselves to the floor behind a pile of crates

There were sentries posted within the building and rooftop to look out at the vicinity. A glint from the rooftop, which was a reflection of sunlight from binoculars had alerted the two chuunins.

"Yes, Gaara?" Rukawa asked without turning around. Sasuke whipped around, he hadn't noticed Gaara until Rukawa had pointed him out.

"I've called Naruto and Kankurou, they should be here any moment now. It's evening, the sun is setting. By night it'll be swarming with guards like ants; it's already starting, so there's not much point in staking out with a risk of ninety percent of getting caught."

"What about that site?" Sasuke jerked a thumb at the loophole area. Seven large men were standing around its perimeter, no one was passing through, while guards were passing through almost everywhere.

"I've noticed," Gaara said. "The site is also barred below ground, and it corresponds directly with this place."

"You seem quite thorough, little brother," Kankurou commented as he landed beside Sasuke.

"Not really. I could only do things very briefly, the 'loophole' site, I hardly looked at it for too long. My sketch is extremely rough, and I didn't manage to get through to most of the corridors, and could only guess from my Third Eye, but as soon as I used it, guards were swarming there like bees to honey," Gaara said, holding out a parchment with a few lines and some dots that represented guards. "Not to mention that I was almost caught six times. This is the toughest security I've had to do which has only guards. I can only conclude that this Orochimaru is an extremely smart man."

Sasuke looked at Gaara weirdly. Then he remembered that Gaara had only just known about Orochimaru, and had never changed blows with the snake charmer, so he closed his mouth. Some things that seemed so important to him could be just mere pointers for others. _Just as my companions would seem like worthless junk to people like Orochimaru. I wonder how many people he used and sacrificed just to get his first zombie?_

"I agree. This Third Eye of yours, how does it work?"

Gaara replied, "I can use sand to mold the model of an eyeball, and infuse chakra with it to activate it so that while my normal vision is subconciously active, the Third Eye dominates the spectrum that I can see."

"Is the Third Eye at a fixed position? Does it drain your chakra?" Sasuke asked.

"Negative. With my chakra I can not only move my Third Eye, but I can also disintergrate it into sand particles and assemble it some place else. However, it's pretty easy to spot."

"Useful jutsu," Sasuke said. Naruto and Kankurou dropped to the floor beside him. "Hi, Naruto. How was stake out?"

"Boring, but there were changes of the guard routes in my area."

"Shall we go?" Kankurou said abruptly. Before they knew it, they might be having tea on this rooftop.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**aknut:** Muahaha. Itachi and Kamui are fighting and they will finish it this time.

Another uneventful chapter with close to zero action.

One promise I can make, the mission execution starts the next mission.

As for the Akatsuki. With everything coming in a bit fast, they might take some time… Or they'll just barge in and blow them up!

As for the Sabaku Siblings in Team Seven. Like said, it's just a temporary measure. After this mission, they'll be another team. They're taking up too much space.

And I tried to break up the chapters since someone said it was too long, but I really couldn't for this chapter, cos then it would be too draggy.

Tell me if this story is currently moving too slow.

Please review. Constructive criticsm. Reviews. I like them all.


	15. Chapter Fourteen Dead

**Disclaimer: I DO not own Naruto**

One thing to announce!!!!!** I passed my exams**. Because I have to get an overall score of 65 percent at least (combination of all subjects of daily work, project, and end-of-years), I've been dying the past few days. I slacked a lot this year, but I also put in some effort so hey! I broke my record! Last year I had 63 percent, this year…. **68.43** percent exactly! Cool, eh?

Another thing… this is one of the chapters that I have written which I like quite a lot. I don't know if you do, but whatever your opinion, tell me by posting a review. Like what I'm getting wrong. Am I deproving or getting slow? Cos the past two chapters have earned the lowest number of reviews I've ever gotten in here.

But thanks for the reviews, if any.

Fight scenes, a bit of action… Moves faster.

**Chapter Fourteen- Dead**

After a week of reconnaissance and planning, Rukawa and Sasuke finally found themselves alone standing before the front gates of the Sound Archives like suicide bombers, their arms full of grenades, a crate more of these fragmentation hand grenades.

Sasuke smirked, pulled the pin, released the striker level and flung it over the gates. It arced almost lazily, hitting the ground with a thunk. Some zombie guards crowded around it, like flies drawn to a light.

_Tick. Tick._ The fuse went out.

All guards within the fifteen metre radius were flecked with sharpnel, but those who had stood within five metres of the grenade were hit the hardest, the blast shattering their ear drums, bits of the grenade piercing their vitals.

At the key of this explosion, grenades suddenly filled the air and touched ground, setting off a cacophony of destruction, fire, and flying sharpnel. Guards fell to the floor like potato sacks, decorated with shapnel. Smoke covered the earth.

Three guards opened the gates, fifteen more behind them.

"Katon! Gokakyuu no jutsu!"

The guards didn't know what hit them. When the fire ceased, ten corpses dropped to the floor. Sasuke usually preferred total inceneration, but there were more to kill. Who knew how many zombies had sealed and could be activated within his laboratories?

Rukawa surveyed the area carefully. The crate was empty, except for one damaged grenade. Twenty guards, all jounin level, were rushing towards them. Rukawa snatched up the grenade and hurled it on the floor. The guards stopped and leapt into the air. Quick as light, Rukawa drew out his Shadow Windmills and threw them. They flew as one, one hiding in the shadows, then the large shurikens suddenly split in a wide arc, cutting the guards cleanly into two.

As the arcing shurikens spun towards themselves, Sasuke caught them, snapped one shut and passed it to Rukawa, putting the other into his pack. They still had the element of surprise.

"Sasuke," Rukawa said and disappeared into thin air.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Hai."

Then he leapt into the crowd of zombie guards, performing handseals, blue chakra sparking around his body. He landed on the ground, and the guards started to crowd in, spears dancing.

"Chidori Nagashi!" Sasuke shouted. (Chidori Current.)

Another crackle of electricity, then the blue lightning burst out, paralyzing the guards around him.

Above Sasuke, Rukawa reared back, then threw the Shadow Windmill, shearing the paralyzed guards off the crowd like fluff of a sheep.

Leaving Sasuke to catch his shuriken, Rukawa somersaulted to increase his time in the air, then he was vertical again as if standing on the air, his palms facing the ground and his fingers and arms outstretched. "Extreme Flash Charge no Jutsu!"

Chidori Nagashi's radius of destruction was nothing compared to this. Thirty corpses fell as a shockwave of yellow electricity passed through them, deep in death more than they had ever been.

Then Rukawa dropped to the floor, and the real battle started, Chuunin Uchiha Sasuke and ANBU candidate Kazuhiko Rukawa against one hundred ANBU zombies.

Insanity. It was exactly as the Council had wanted Team Seven to do. Self-destruction. Sasuke still remembered the night before…

"There are eight chopsticks here. Among them are two with red ends on one side. The two who get this lot," Itachi said gravely, eight wooden sticks in his firm grasp. "Will distract the Sound zombies as the others infiltrate the area and steal Konoha and Orochimaru information. After infiltration, two others will provide back up in five minutes."

_Sasuke drew one of the sticks. Red end. _

_Then it was Naruto, Temari, Kankurou. All blank ends. It was down to Gaara and Rukawa. If none of them drew a colored stick, then it would be down to Itachi. Rukawa drew one. Gaara drew the other. Itachi opened his hand for the other stick._

_Rukawa had drawn the red-ended chopstick._

"_Good luck, ototo, Rukawa, don't die."_

Rukawa threw a vicious uppercut into one guard's jaw, then retracted his arm quickly as a kick soared pass. He flashed through hand seals and put it to his mouth. "Katon! Housenka no Jutsu!"

The Housenka Jutsu usually served as a distraction, and as the guards twisted around the fireballs, he drew fans of senbons, striking vital points methodically. Only two died, but it was progress, seeing that four more took their place.

Uchiha Sasuke slammed a back fist into a collarbone, ducked under a swipe, straightened up to slash and ear, then stumbled into Rukawa's back as a punch landed on his gut. He could feel himself giving away slightly. Then he heard Rukawa shouting 'Housenka no Jutsu' and dropped to the ground, letting fireballs pass overhead. He did some handseals. "Wind Cutter no Jutsu!"

Just as on the rooftop weeks ago, the destructive beam of slashing wind tore a pathway in the sea of zombie guards.

"Raikiri!" Both boys shouted, their Sharingans spinning. Rukawa was on the left, yellow lightning on his left hand, Sasuke was on the right with the blue lightning on his right hand. They dashed forwards through the pathway, arms out and tearing through any body along the way, ending at the wall.

Powering down their Raikiris, both of them pivoted and engaged in combat again.

"Why can you perform Raikiri?" Sasuke half yelled in question.

"My advanced bloodlimit!" Rukawa yelled back as he dodged another flurry of kicks. No matter where they went, they only gained a few seconds of rest before they were overwhelmed again.

"Oh…" Sasuke thought. _Sigh… I took three weeks to master that technique, and Rukawa took half a second. Sometimes I envy how he can summon electricity anytime._

Rukawa half-smirked as he palmed two heads and gathered electricity around them. "Flash Charge!"

Even as the two corpses crumpled to the ground, Rukawa could feel the apprehension gathering within him. The element of surprise had already gone, even with the flashy start, throwing grenades and performing all that fancy jutsus. They had thirty seconds left before the tables turned and they died.

Sasuke unhooked a grenade from his belt and pulled the pin, lobbing it far into the crowd. Three seconds later, it exploded in a reassuring mass of sharpnel.

_Twenty-seven. Twenty Six…_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto was twirling a shuriken on his finger when it happened. Team Seven, excluding Sasuke and Rukawa were hidden in the crown of a large tree, waiting. Naruto had been expecting a series of explosions like them, but he'd never expected it to be so loud.

So he cut his finger. A fine line drawing a few droplets of blood.

He drew a shuddering breath. _Fox, take care of it. _Then he cut his mental connection and returned to concentrate on Itachi's hand signals.

They dropped to the ground like shadows, waiting in the grass at Itachi's lead as the Sound guards ran towards the front yard. Itachi put two fingers up and motioned towards the building.

Naruto wiped an itching finger on his pants. _Why are there mosquitoes even in Otogakure…_ he whined inwardly. Was there no stopping to the idiocy of mosquitoes?

They ran across the field, and stopped in the shadows of a corner in the building. Itachi waved his hands about. _We split now._

Gaara, Sakura, Temari and Kankurou ran away. Kankurou opened one of the back doors, surprising a guard. Gaara suffocated the guard with his sand. After the sand came out of the guard's mouth again, he raised a ram seal. _Third Eye, activate!_

The sand curled into a ball, and slowly, a pupil appeared. It moved in front of the four ninjas, looking around corners and blind spots, leading the way like a lamp without a light.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke felt the second knee to his gut and he knew that it was over. A kick in his calf brought him to his knees. A fist drew back, then came forward. Sasuke raised his arms in defiance, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

A hand stretched from no where caught the punch. With a sharp squeeze, Itachi crushed the hand before decapitating the guard with a long katana.

Another zombie leapt from above, spear pointing downwards at Itachi's back.

"Shadow Replacement no Jutsu!" The two Uchiha brothers shouted in unison. Itachi appeared behind the attacking guard, stuck a large exploding note onto his back, and threw the guard into a platoon guards. With a tight whine, presumed to be a scream, the guard hurtled to earth and exploded, taking three fellow zombies with him.

Itachi landed on the ground, and his katana flashed through the air again, winding around spears and stabbing, slicing, slashing. With his Sharingan, he turned the tables of what spears had against swords, stepping around sharp jabs and using his sword to his own advantage. Ten guards fell at Uchiha Itachi's feet.

"That's something to envy, I guess," Sasuke muttered. Then he tied his coil of wire to the ring of a kunai and threw it. As the wire uncoiled rapidly from his belt, he took out six shuriken, three in each hand, and hurled them.

The first shuriken hit the kunai, deflecting it elsewhere while it stabbed a guard in the eye. The other five shurikens did likewise. Sasuke drew another six and threw them, producing the same results. Soon, fifteen guards were trapped in the web of hard wire. Sasuke transferred the end of his wire to his mouth and flashed through seals. "Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

The large dragon-like flame ran down the wire, searing the guards. Even the wire melted.

All fifteen guards fell.

"That's something to envy, I guess," Itachi muttered as he watched his little brother, even though he hadn't heard Sasuke.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rukawa backed against the stone wall. His foot suddenly snapped out and caught a guard in the throat. Wrestling the spear from the guard's hands, he used its back to whack the centre of the guard's forehead, shattering the skull internally, only causing a bruise to form at the attacked point.

Using his newly acquired spear, Rukawa smacked away katana blades, the tip of the spear quivering as he swung it about, jabbing through vital points: the windpipe, neck artery, between the eyes, heart, lungs, and more.

As another platoon of ANBU-level zombies crashed in like a wave, Rukawa sensed a heartbeat high above him. He glanced up for a second, then smirked. He threw the spear into the nearest guard's chest, then flashed through handseals, his hands barely a blur, in fact, they hardly seemed to move within that second.

"Doton! Earth Break!" Rukawa shouted and slammed his chakra enforced fist into the ground. Like its namesake, the earth broke up into many pieces, sending all of them, including himself, off balance.

"Tajyuu kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto shouted, fifty replicas of himself appearing beside him. With hardly a yell, they smashed into the ground onto of a guard each, their speed heightened by good chakra.

The real Naruto did not join his clones, and he landed on the ground beside Rukawa as he dispelled his clones. "Status?"

"We've taken out a good fraction of all of them. They aren't that powerful though, for _ANBU_ leveled zombie/guards," Rukawa replied as both of them were forced to engage in taijutsu with another wave of guards. "It's different from the report. They only have numbers. Their only, what… Chuunin level. The report over-estimated their powers."

"Are you sure? Even if the Council wants us dead, Hokage-sama won't give bogus reports," Naruto challenged. He didn't really know how to put this feeling that was within him, but he felt that if he pushed Rukawa, a clearer answer would come out other than assumptions.

Rukawa was halfway through a sure nod before a memory suddenly flashed into sight.

_"Really," Rukawa asked, acting scared._

_"Yeah," the girl seemed extremely enthusiastic to share information. She seemed to be the most light hearted child in the village, and extremely naiive for an thirteen year old, as he judged from her height. "My cousin said that Orochimaru-sama came from the Hidden Leaf, and he'd been experimenting on humans, they say he's carrying it out here, and he's found a way to summon... Hanyous!"_

"Demons (Hanyous)," Rukawa breathed. Itachi and he had made a few speculations. Facts were clicking into place slowly, there were huge gaps, but he got the general idea.

In mid-fight, Rukawa said, "These guards are just the small fry, chuunin leveled zombies who are here only to tire us out and hopefully kill us, so they won't have to call out the demons!"

"So what that girl said was true then!" Naruto said as he rammed two fists into a zombie's head, sandwiching it by the temples. The guard crumpled to the ground.

"Yes," Rukawa replied, chopping a hand into another's neck, breaking the artery. "The demons probably can't be controled after they surpass a certain level of power, since the Sound needs to soften us up quite a bit before the demons take action. But when that happens, Naruto, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"That you'll have to use Kyuubi again. But hopefully, the four of us can handle them at normal level, so don't depend on it."

Naruto nodded. They were slowly pushing the crowd of guards forward, he realised triumphantly. Four metres from the wall, a group of guards landed behind them. _Shit! These guys are no wimps! _Naruto thought as triumph faded away.

Rukawa pulled out another fragmentation grenade from his belt and pulled the pin. Leaving it on the ground, Naruto and he leapt out of the crowd, ran up a tree, leapt off, and landed a safe distance away from the set grenade. It exploded in a gray flume of smoke.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gaara closed his eyes in concentration, pumping more chakra into his Third Eye. It was hard to see in the dark, look from a third person's perspective, and navigate through the corridors through his memory of the rough sketch he had drawn up a week ago. Even though he had been roaming through the Archives for five days, the building was still an unfamiliar place, the long winding corridors, the slanted floor and high ceilings did not tune even to his ninja senses.

And the breathing of the three people behind him wasn't helping. They were keeping it soft and steady, but with his eyes closed, his hearing senses became even more attuned. Thank god he didn't hear their heartbeats. He would go mental if that happened. Then again, how mental could he get? He was free! Free of Shukaku's stinking grasp!

He walked more quickly, motioning to Temari with a finger every once in a while. His left hand was clasped gently on Temari's right. Every time he used a pinkie to tap Temari's hand, she would raise a ram seal to her lips and blow gently. As a master of wind control, his sister had the ability to use the moving air to stop the flow in a guard's body, or send a chakra enforced bit to the man's vital part and slash it internally if he was a zombie.

He still felt the old pleasure of having a man snuff it, so he was thankful it was Temari, not he or his sand, that did most of the killing.

Gaara stopped at one of the corners on Basement five. He raised a fist.

Sakura felt her hand feel its way to her kunai holster. Ten guards. But she had to trust Gaara and Temari to kill the guards silently, even the clink of metal would alert the entire guard force of the Sound Archive.

Temari wasn't raising a ram seal to her mouth. Kankurou looked sharply at his sister. He nudged her, and his eyes spoke for him. _What are you doing?_

Temari blinked at her right hand. Kankurou looked downwards. Gaara wasn't tapping her hand with his last finger. Instead, his little brother was drawing trickles of sand out from his gourd using chakra.

In the darkness, the thin sand was hardly visible, but Kankurou could imagine razor sharp blades zooming in on the guards and cutting their bloodless arteries. Gaara's sand cusioned the ten thumps, and the four ninjas scuttled past the dead bodies, nearing their destination.

They descended two flights of stairs in the same fashion, killing silently when necessary. Sakura was surprised at how smooth the operation was. She was marginally less nervous than before, and her mind sometimes lingered to how Sasuke and the rest of them were doing.

Basement Seven shocked the sub-team. Unlike the previous levels, which were dark and the doors camouflaged to the same stone colour with the walls, this deepest level was a bright white, flourescent tubes lined the walkway and ceiling, draping the white walls in purer white. There were many doors, thin and tall, all of the same type, none of them labeled or with a specific lighting. Only the end of the level was different. Blood signed the wall in a complicated seal.

Sakura, Temari, and Kankurou held back gaspes. Gaara smiled. He had this reaction too when he first saw it with his Third Eye. Suddenly another mind brushed his own. He looked around. Sakura was staring at him. Allowing the genjutsu to enter his mind, Gaara mentally asked her business with him.

_What's beyond these doors? _

_Ask a Hyuuga._

_Gaara…_

_Okay, okay! I put my Third Eye through. Gruesome load. Test tubes, dead men, chemicals, seals, scrolls, jars of blood and severed limbs, operation beds, instruments, live men undergoing experiments, that sort of stuff. I guess this can be catergorised as 'Orochimaru' things?_

_Eww. Then what's beyond that seal?_

_Sigh… Sakura, the purpose of the seal is to seal something from anyone. I can't see it._

_Gaara…_

_Okay, okay! But I really can't._

The Kankurou brushed their minds. He wasn't cross eyed, but he was staring at both of them.

_Gaara, is the unknown location above ground behind the seal?_

_Yes. That's as much as I can tell you. We split here. Eight-nine percent of the guards in this building was drawn out by the other four, leaving eleven percent. We've silenced at least six percent. _Gaara thought to the others once the mental link was extended to Temari.

_Temari and I will find the Konoha records upstairs and kill as many as we can. Gaara, you and Sakura stay here and try to unseal this seal. Some important documents might be behind this wall._

_Okay._

_Got it._

_Nice plan, bro._

_Very well, _Gaara thought out before the telepathy link was closed.

When Kankurou and Temari turned the corner, Sakura looked at Gaara. It was up to them then.

"Lovely day," Sakura commented.

"Yeah."

"Let's get to work then. What do we know about unsealing seals?" Sakura asked. Replying her own question, she said, " a greater amount of chakra is needed to unseal than the amount of chakra needed to unseal itself. And a seal can only be unsealed, but not resealed."

"The unsealing requires a more complicated seal around the seal. Unsealing also shears a part of the person's chakra core. In other words, soul."

Both of them shuddered.

"Do you know an unsealing seal more complicated than this?" Sakura asked Gaara.

"Nope, only a seal more complicated than this."

Silence befell them as they started to think. Sakura felt a bead of sweat creep down her forehead.

"Got it," Gaara said. Sakura looked at the red head. She had been the smartest girl in class, with an IQ lower than only Shikamaru and Sasuke, but Gaara had thought of something before her. He had to be smart then.

"What is it?"

"We seal away this seal. This way, it doesn't have to be more complicated than this seal, only enough power is required."

Sakura shook her head. It was crazy. But also plausible. The Academy and Itachi-sensei had taught her an array of seals and un-seals, and the most powerful seal she knew was the Shadow Hold. She told this to Gaara.

"Nope, too much chakra and too complicated. Heard of Sasori of the Red Sand, his famous seal Puppet Glance is a bit simpler, and takes up less chakra, but is marginally more powerful."

"You draw it. I've never seen it," Sakura said. Something stirred around her when Gaara had mentioned 'Sasori of the Red Sand'.

Gaara hadn't been lying. It was simple. He bit his thumb and drew a large circle around the seal on the wall, then painted several kanji around it. Another circle, then more kanji, stretching throughout the entire wall. Large, but definitely less complicated than the Shadow Hold.

Gaara popped a blood replenishing pill into his mouth and Sakura healed his bite mark with basic medical jutsu.

"What do we do now?" Sakura asked.

Gaara smirked. "Think about the most horrible things that has ever happened to you. Let these emotions cloud you, then concentrate this tainted chakra into a dragon seal. That's all that's needed to activate the Puppet Glance."

Sakura dove deep for the most horrible things. She remembered the Konoha Invasion, flashes of dead people, Zabuzza and company, and more. She smiled darkly. Yeah, she could think of the most horrible things. Her evil chakra spread throughout her body, filling tenketsu after tenketsu.

Beside her, Gaara was letting off exurbant amounts of killer intent past the border of madness. She shuddered.

It was going to begin soon. The Puppet Glance was already glowing faintly, orange and black.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, a smirk playing on his lips. The Shadow Windmill Rukawa had passed him split into five, another five spinning in its shadow.

The five guards leapt into the air, avoiding the first. The 'second' shurikens sliced into these five guards. Another five raced to the first wave a shuriken, catching them. Then, they wound back as if pitching a baseball, the catcher's mitt Naruto.

Naruto smirked. "Kai!"

The Shadow Shurikens changed back into Naruto clones, all smirking darkly and pulling the guards into a bear hug. _Time to use Itachi-sensei's favourite clone attack!_

"Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Not bothering to celebrate his latest breakthrough, Naruto felt a presence behind him and turned around. He ducked under a fist and gave his own punch, which was evaded also. He and the guard exchanged blows, the guard landing more hits than he did on the guard.

He felt one rib crack as a knee drove into his chest. He coughed crimson. _Fox, I'll leave this to you!_

Driving forward, Naruto punched the guard in the thigh, a certain bleeding finger brushing on the guard's pants, the sliced flesh leaving a thin trail of blood.

Suddenly, four strong arms grabbed Naruto from behind. As he was yanked backwards, Naruto felt the cracked rib stab him with pain. The Guard he had been fighting drew back a fist, which suddenly grasped a katana from one of his fellow zombies.

Time stopped, Naruto opened up his mental connection to Kyuubi, willing himself into Kyuubi's mind space.

**_FOX!!!_**

Blankness. Or rather, a vaccuum of dark. A strange calling was echoeing off somewhere.

Then the guard stabbed him, yanking out of his reverie. The thin blade went through his right chest smoothly between two ribs easily with an easy metallic sound. Naruto screamed, shock and pain numbing his brain. The pain was beyond words. His eyes were flashing blacks and whites.

The strong arms released him, and the thin blade unsheathed from Naruto's chest. He dropped to the ground, knees first. Then he keeled over. The guards left him. He could feel his own blood pooling out. Naruto coughed, some blood spurting out.

He could vaguely hear Kyuubi shouting behind a thick, misty screen. Naruto raised his hand. Kyuubi was not here. He lifted his fingers for Rukawa. He was dying. "Rukawa… help me…"

Among the chaos, Rukawa turned around, stared at Naruto, then turned around and engaged in his fight again.

Naruto felt his conciousness slipping away. The last thing he saw as his eyes registed to darkness was a brilliant flash from Rukawa.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, not my best fights… maybe, but the jutsus were quite good when I typed it.

Okay, the grenades aren't those ugly pineapple ones, their round, like the ones in the manga Black Cat that Train Heartnet uses. M67 hand held fragmentation grenades. I had to do a bit of research off wikipedia and google.

Chidori Nagashi is different from the manga. It paralyses people in a wider radius other than just five metres and for a long time. Chidori Nagashi will also be one of Sasuke's good jutsus later on as the story evolves.

If you somehow wondered, Gaara and Sakura will not get involved in a relationship beyond friendship. I left out Akatsuki for the most part of this chapter, they'll be back.

Hope you took note of Naruto's finger, tried to make it obvious, but if not, read again.

Please review! Please review! Thank you for reading this chapter, but please review too! Constructive criticism… nice reviews, I welcome them all.

Er… I'm **not** writing a Winnie the Pooh fanfiction.


	16. Chapter Fifteen Shinigami's Hand

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. .oturaN now ton od I :remialcsiD**

Author's Notes: A bit of a slow post. But the length should make up for it. I didn't know if I should hurry it on by making it shorter, but I didn't want to compromise the fight scene.

Naruto Part Two… rocks. That's all I can say.

It's been the school holidays for two weeks… and let's just say I feel like a lazy pig. My resolution: Wash the curtains, hang them up. Load music onto my MP3. Finish one Chapter. Go to the gym. Do my essay.

But if I do so much… mabe I'll have nothing to do. Still! Need to feel useful. Anyway, I got into all the subjects I wanted, and a pretty good class.

Thanks to my reviewers! **Wanabereader**… Haha. Someone will die though. And do they even have a section for blues clues? **2stupid**… most people got high sixties and low seventies. No one got eighty or above. Do I know you, cos' I have a feeling I do…

And thanks for the long review, **Edengrave**. Sometimes I feel like I'm writing myself into a huge hole, though. Casino Royale has inspired me to write better fighting scenes, and if I can, I'll do one much better than this chapter. There isn't enough innovation in my fights.

**Aknut**… like I said, your kicks always miss.

**Chapter Fifteen: Shinigami's hand**

Rukawa landed on the ground, and scrambled behind a tree. He hastily tied a rough bandage around his wounded forearm before the tree exploded, and ten guards surrounded him.

Rukawa wiped the blood from his mouth with his left hand, his right slowly and secretly slipping into his shuriken pouch. The point of a spear nicked his right hand, drawing a light line of blood. Rukawa withdrew his hand and lifted both hands out in front of him, the universal sign for "I'm not carrying any weapons". Rukawa turned off his Sharingan as they took a step closer, the heads of their spears pointing at him.

_They're not as stupid as they seem, _Rukawa decided._ They would have killed me by now, so they're going to ask some questions. How can I answer them without giving away anything and yet keep my life at the same time?_

"What is your purpose here, rebel?" The guards asked in unison in a low monotone.

_So they're being controlled by someone in the building, _Rukawa concluded._ Though their leader isn't intelligent enough. He wouldn't have made them ask this question outright, and he would have made only one guard speak to give me the impression of intelligent cohesiveness since I would think that guard was the leader._

But of course there was the possibility that Orochimaru had made them all numbskulls, but Orochimaru wasn't like that. Orochimaru indulged in the dark arts, he wouldn't take any pleaure from creating idiots.

"We are from the Hidden Cloud. We were given the mission to steal specific records from the Sound Archive."

The guards did not speak immediately. Rukawa could imagine the man controlling the zombies hestitating, taking in the huge revelation he had just heard. Then they spoke again, in the same monotonous baritone. "Does this mean that the agreement between the Cloud and Sound is off?"

"You could say that," Rukawa answered, grinning inwardly. Orochimaru had picked the wrong person to control these zombies. The idiot was completely fooled, and when he reported to a superior, the entire Sound will be alerted and they would probably kill any Cloud nin in their village, making it out to be they, the Sound, going back on the peace treaty. In this confusion, Konoha would be able to take control of both villages easily.

"Traitor. I'll smash you to bits," they said.

Rukawa smirked. He had been right, they were being controlled by some patriotic twit. "I'll" was singular, and "I'll smash you to bits" would thus be transalated as "I'll use these zombies to kill you".

The guards charged in, spear first. Their weapons rammed into the boy easily, though their bodies, unstopped by nonexistent resistence, charging forward until they punctured themselves. Rukawa glared at one dying zombie, glaring at its controller himself. "That was a clone. I performed the Bunshin Jutsu when I was behind the tree."

The guard raised its shaft even as the "huo si" seal on its collarbone disintegrated. Frowning, Rukawa reached out and tapped the guard on the forehead. "Isshi Resshin."

From the point of his index finger, the force of the blow literally split the zombie's skull first, mashing the brain to a fine pulp. From that fracture came a domino-like destruction. His spinal cord broke vertebrae by vertebrae, then spreading to the collarbone, hipbone, shin bone, ankle and so on, mashing the flesh at the same time.

Rukawa heard footsteps behind him and turned around. The guards were flowing in like a broken dam, they came relentlessly in a continuous wave. Ten guards were rushing in, snakes rushing out from their sleeves. Rukawa's eyes narrowed slightly at this more powerful set of guards, his injured forearm throbbing as blood soaked the rough bandage. He popped a blood replenishing pill into his mouth and drew out a kunai in reverse hand, and took a defensive stance. Putting his good arm behind his back, Rukawa started to perform handseals.

Even though the Extreme Flash Charge was more powerful than the normal Flash Charge, its single disadvantage was that the targets had to be touching the ground, just as normal electricity physics required.

So when Rukawa gripped the kunai between his teeth, raised his hands and shouted, "Extreme Flash Charge!", the guards were smote like birds barbequed by electrocution. But another squad of six guards leapt of the roof of the Archives. They also had the ability to conjure snakes, and the vipers hissed as they wrapped around their target.

Rukawa was tied down by his wrists, arm, ankle, shoulder. Then their fangs sank into his flesh and he screamed, dropping to his knees, the kunai falling in front of him. His vision suddenly brightened painfully as the poison numbed his senses. The snakes did not leave him as a guard stepped forward.

Rukawa glared bearily upwards, thinking,_ so the person controlling these more powerful zombies is different. In fact, his ruse might have worked if not for his incompetent colleague. _The guard reached out and snatched up his forearm. The snakes there uncoiled and retreated. Tearing away the bandage, the guard swiped a bit of blood with two fingers.

Rukawa tried to rise up, but the snake fangs sank deeper and he forgot his attempts in the pain. He could only watch as the guard pressed the dyed fingers into his "huo si" seal. Then the snakes lifted their fangs and uncoiled from his person into their summoners.

Rukawa made to get up when his head suddenly pumped, and his mind suddenly shifted into the back seat of his head. He was watching things from a different perspective…

_The guards, all six of them, stood around him in a silent circle. He knelt there, unable to move. He could somehow feel that the guards were waiting for something. A figure suddenly appeared in front of him. But could this be him? He had no control of himself. What had the guard done. Was this genjutsu? Ninjutsu? Or some other dark art founded by Orochimaru?_

_The dark figure walked to him and squatted, the light catching the figure's face. It was cold, like those zombies around him, but they held passionate emotion._

**I heard that you rebels want to steal from the Archive? Is it true that you, the Cloud, wishes to end all peace ties with the Sound?**

_"You have been fooled," he said. No! This was not him. He would never betray them. But his mouth kept going. "I only said that because the man was stupid enough to believe me."_

**So would you care to share the truth?**

_"Of course. Actually, I'm-" He could not reveal his secret! But he could already feel his jaw moving, lips and tongue forming words, his throat grating to produce sound._

_A flash of memory. The only way to break a genjutsu is to exert more chakra to disrupt the chakra flow of the genjutsu. Shisui had said. He tried to gather chakra from his core, picturing the pathways and tenketsus shining with chakra. But it never happened. "I'm from Konoha, a chuunin called Aikawa Kazuya, sent to…"_

A boot connected with his jaw and Rukawa came to his senses again as he sprawled across the dirt. Rukawa looked up, and the mess of yellow brought a smile to his lips, however small and brief.

Naruto spared his teammate a small grin that reflected his former self briefly before he swung the katana he had stolen about, swiping the head from the mysterious but shocked figure. The decapicitated body fell to the ground in a fountain of crimson, dirtying Naruto's and Rukawa's faces with blood for the first time that night. While it was unpleasant, it reasssured them they were not the only living things in the entire world. Killing bloodless zombies could be more traumatic and unreal than killing real living beings where you actually felt and saw their blood.

The six zombies fell to the ground, the "huo si" seals disintegrated into thin air. Naruto and Rukawa looked at each other. If they could find the people controlling the zombies and kill them, all the zombies would fall. Naruto extended a hand. "The great Kazuhiko Rukawa was actually caught."

Rukawa took the hand. "I couldn't help it! All of us are tiring."

"Hey, hey, I was only joking, mate. But I agree with you. Sakura and the others better hurry up. I finally get what Itachi-sensei meant by this being a suicide mission. We're all dying slowly, even you."

Naruto pulled Rukawa to his feet and said as his eyes roamed the area in search for more guards, "These zombies may not be as powerful as us, but they've got numbers we can't imagine even until now. My chakra is only enough to perform a Grand Fireball."

_Naruto… low on chakra?_ Then Rukawa noticed something and said, "Your arm!"

"This? Ah, got scraped. But its not that bad, see here? I was stabbed twice. Things are really bad. Both Sasuke and Itachi-sensei have sustained wounds too. Looks like you're not doing any better either."

"That's not what I meant-!" Rukawa broke off. Naruto looked up and leapt away as more guards came raining down, katanas in their hands. Meanwhile, Rukawa jumped out of the way, drawing a fan of kunai as he went and flung them at the guards, hitting two guards while missing the vital points of the other two. Rukawa drew his Fuuma Shuriken and parried two strikes, sparks flashing as metal met metal. Then he expertly swung one of the blades of his Fuuma Shuriken and pushed the sword edges away.

Taking advantage of this sudden lack of weaponry. Rukawa pulled the Fuuma Shuriken in reverse handhold and slit both of their jugular veins, at the expense of cutting his wrist, but the wound wasn't deep.

Once again, Naruto and Rukawa felt an overwhelming unease which expanded when they were forced apart to battle alone.

Sharp metal slashed, carving a gash of blood. Rukawa swore at the pain and grabbed the sword blade, his hands protected by his gloves. "Flash Charge!"

Then, Rukawa turned around and kicked away the dead zombie and took hold of the hilt of the katana. His breath was quickening quite sharply now. He held the katana in a defensive position. The guards hovered around him, and he glared at them, as if daring them to taste his sword.

His muscles straining a bit, Rukawa countered one downward slash and kicked the user. Using this momentum, Rukawa twisted around and sliced another head cleanly from its shoulders. Flashes of metal sparked the air as his sword connected with spear heads.

"Damn," Rukawa swore and hurled the sword through one guard's chest and ran. Unlike Itachi, he wasn't so proficient with the katana, and would not be able to handle six spears. As he tore down the pathway and the building flashed past, he could hear the guards directly behind him.

His arms pumped hard as he dashed across the field, weaving through trees. Two guards suddenly ran out and intercepted Rukawa, who skidded to a stop. He glanced around at his surroundings. It was devoid of any of his team mates.. The initial wave of zombies had subsided into a steady stream, some suddenly appearing out of thin air.

He calmed his breathing as the guards surrounded him like a bunch of Naruto bunshins. Genjutsu was useful for taking out a crowd, but he wasn't even sure if the living dead responded to happy images. A guard inched closer to him, and there was nothing for it if he wanted to save on chakra. Rukawa caught the guard by the neck, his other hand suddenly spear shaped and it punched through the guard's chest.

The guards watched as the blood sprayed out, then shaped into little daggers. Rukawa spread out more chakra around the field, making sure the guards stayed mesmerised. The blood needles fell, raining on the zombies like arrows.

But the guards didn't stay long enough to be killed by blood needles. They waited for the very last moment before they disappeared and reappeared above the red needles.

Rukawa performed a set of handseals as the guards aimed to land on him, spears and sword heads first.

"Katon! Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" He shouted as the grand fireball spewed from his mouth, enveloping a side of zombies in one long breath. Still, most of the zombies had survived, moving far away enough not to be seared by the fire.

Rukawa smirked. They were all firmly on the ground, none of them seemed to have any intention to leave it. Even if they could dodge fire, they would never dodge electricity. His hands reached out in a familiar outstretched position as if he were commanding an army.

"Extreme Flash Charge!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Puppet Glance was now a total orange, sharp, but not bright, but looked extremely dangerous. The kanjis were crawling over the wall like beetles, and some were slowly reducing in size, arranging themselves into the circle, where the line was slowly disappearing.

Sakura felt dizzy. The world around her was folding and spinning, leaning sideways then fading black. The urge to throw up was overwhelming and she could taste blood. The atmosphere was totally wrong. Her body had become a container of darkness, and it welcomed the darkenss that Gaara was radiating. She felt as if she had brutally killed a thousand people. Gaara probably had.

In the meantime, Gaara could see that Sakura was struggling with keeping concious. He couldn't blame her, and he could not feel pity for himself either. As the Puppet Glance took its final shape as two circles, one around another made up of tiny strands of coiled kanji, the complicated seal on the wall was shaking subtly, shimmers of green emanating.

The Puppet Glance, which was usually used for sealing human souls into puppets like Sasori had with the Yondaime Kazekage, was finally to be used for better means, like breaking evil pictures.

Suddenly, an explosion of chakra burst above ground. Sakura gasped as the Puppet Glance turned from orange to blue. The swirling kanjis skittered to a stop, an echo bouncing off the walls.

Still keeping her seal up, Sakura turned to Gaara. "What's happened?"

Gaara kept up his seals too. He walked up to the Puppet Glance and inspected it. "It's been overwhelmed by another source of chakra from above ground. Before it changes to black or red, we have to let out a greater amount of chakra to start it again."

"I'll be out of chakra half way through," Sakura said worriedly.

"Don't worry." Gaara smiled at her. "Shukaku will help me."

Sakura smiled back. That was another thing about Gaara. A minute ago he was scaring her to the point of fainting, but now he was reassuring her as if they were in happyland. He was, in most ways, extreme. Sakura concentrated hard and called into her chakra, bringing her core out for the Puppet Glance to see.

Then the unsealing restarted, the blue kanjis boosting into their reassuring orange again. Sakura felt her core flake away, and her heart felt colder and harder, and she felt a gnawing desire to inflict pain again. Then her worst memories tamped down on the faint desire, and nausea broke over her again.

"We're almost there, Sakura," Gaara said from far away. This time, his voice wasn't reassuring, his dark memories controlling his outlook.

Sakura looked up at the Puppet Glance again. Both circles were almost completed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rukawa ran across the field of deep fried zombies before more could gather around him. In the distance, Naruto was fending off a couple of guards, but he wasn't going to last long. He thought it odd. Why wasn't Kyuubi coming out? Even a burst of chakra? A bit of regenerating? The blonde was deeply wounded, like the last samurai with a cause.

Deep within, Rukawa felt a spark of contempt._ Fighting like a dog. _

Where had that come from? Rukawa cleared his head and powered up his right hand, yellow electricity powering up like Kakashi's blue chakra. "Raikiri!"

Then his Sharingan was on and he appeared before Naruto, taking a punch to the face before he ripped through the guard with his powerful weapon. Raising his other hand, he blocked the roundhouse kick, them flipped his hand around and caught the ankle. Unsheathing his bloodied hand, Rukawa snapped the ankle and used his Raikiri to blow the guard's brain out. Messy slop fell to the floor, and Rukawa deactivated the Raikiri.

Behind him, Naruto shouted, "Rukawa! Katon! Housenka no Jutsu!"

Rukawa dropped to the floor as the balls of visible heat passed over head. As he bent down, his other hand lifted his Shadow Windmill from his pouch. Keeping it clamped shut, he passed it to Naruto. "Use this. You're a horrible fighter."

"Rukawa…" Naruto growled, but he took the large shuriken and was forced to engage in battle again.

Leaping away from Naruto, Rukawa flipped over the guard's heads, landed, then jammed a kunai into one guard's neck. In one fluid motion, he plucked two senbon and threw them into another's vital point, in another, he had clamped a hand over one more's face and said, "Flash Charge."

Rukawa ducked as a spear jabbed overhead, then he sank into the ground with genjutsu. "Isshi Resshin!"

The ground split, and the guards were unbalanced, but when Rukawa came up and gave a scissors kick, they were on their feet again. He forced them through the web of cracked earth, dodging strikes and giving his own. There was no time for ninjutsu at all, but Rukawa kept his ground.

"Houshou!" Rukawa shouted and slammed a fist into his opponent's gut. The guard's snapped audibly, then flew backwards, ramming into another guard, who snapped to, before both of them collided with yet another guard, cracking his skull on the wall.

The guards stopped in hestitation, then they came in. One slashed downwards, then suddenly came up with a backslash that helped him change direction swiftly and he swiped. Rukawa leant back with the initial downslash, but when the sudden change happened, he was unprepared. He jumped for a backflip, but the long hilt of the katana caught him as it drove.

He gasped in pain and fell to the floor. Taking advantage of the split second's loophole, the guards pounced in, sinking fists into him. Rukawa jerked in pain, then he turned around and spat, blood falling to the floor.

The living dead were merciless, perhaps it was their lack of a beating heart, or a soul. Their hits came in hard and fast, but they had all left their weapons on their floor. Rukawa wondered as he raised his arms in defense, feeling it becoming less and less effective as more fists and boots rained down. Finally, one of them backhanded him into the floor. Wrenching an arm backwards, the guard's ripped all of his weapon pouches from him.

Rukawa leant forward unsteadily as they forced him to his feet, blood dripping from a gash on his head. After all that had happened, were they still bent on capturing them for information? Or was he to be a bargain. That, he was unwilling to be. He would not be a burden just because he was captured and used in exchange for his team mates' surrender.

He threw his head backwards, slamming it into the guard's jaw. Then he dove to the ground, and using a hand as a pivot, he lashed out with his feet, kicking his captor in the chest, before using the momentum as a run into the next chest. He managed three before a guard finally picked up a katana and jabbed forward.

Rukawa leant to the side, allowing the blade to pass his face, then he pushed himself from a handstand to standing on his two feet, and drove his elbow into the guard's gut, whirling around, he spun a high kick into the man's head, smashing the skull.

Rukawa winced in pain at the mass of bruises that was newly inflicted, wiping salty sweat and blood from his eyes. Ignoring their fallen comrades, the zombies stepped closer knitting a tighter circle. Itachi was right more than ever now. This was a suicide mission.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The prodigious Uchiha brothers were more successul than Naruto or Rukawa, who were working individually. Other than working together as they were used to, the brothers were keeping the thin line between dying and living up.

Their bodies were a whirl of motion, touching each other, then breaking apart, never allowing a cut or hit to break their rhythm, bursts of fire, wind, water, or lightning occasionally illuminating them both. Sasuke was fast and landed harder hits, but Itachi was faster and swifter, and this combination allowed the guards around them to drop like flies on Boxing Day.

Still, when they stopped for a moment, you would see the dark blood dripping from various wounds, a collection of the crimson liquid on the ground. You would hear their hard breathing and would sense their weariness. But, you could feel their fiery determination kept of by their fan, which showed that they were truly Uchihas, not the cowards who had died five years back for a greed for power.

Sasuke drew a kunai from his pouch with his index and middle fingers. He twisted around for a butterfly kick, and when he landed he snapped his wrist, flicking the kunai into the crowd. Two guard's dodged, but the third did not, the throwing dagger hitting him hard in the face. A flash bomb was attached to the ring of the kunai.

Sasuke performed handseals as the fuse went out. Meanwhile, Itachi drove a hard kick into a guard's knee, then hurled the guard over his and Sasuke's head.

The fuse burnt out. Sasuke and Itachi did not close their eyes, Sasuke blocked by the falling guard, Itachi with his back to the flash. When the guard fell and the illumination continued, Sasuke let out his long breath. "Katon! Gokakyuu no Jutsu!"

Blinded because of their burnt retinas, the guards screamed as an inferno introduced them to hell. Itachi grabbed Sasuke by the collar and their melted into the ground. "Doton. Hidden Earth no Jutsu."

The brothers waited until the confusion above ground subsided before they appeared again. The guards turned towards the two figures who stood admist them, then charged. "Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The guards, burst back by the explosion, crumpled to the floor. Metres away, the brother's had reappeared, one on either side of the crowd. Given time to perform handseals by the diversion of exploding clones, Sasuke and Itachi were ready. Sasuke finished his Ox Seal and shouted, "Wind Dragon!" One large destructive line of chakra wind and power burst forward.

"Black Claw!" Itachi shouted as he finished a Rat Seal. Three black and red lines slashed out, then hit the floor, carving out three gashes on the ground. The two powerful jutsus ripped through the crowd of guards, then hit each other. At first, the pushed against each other, then bright light exploded as they clawed past each other, gaining each other's power as they tore past, backlashing and finishing off the remaining guards.

Itachi and Sasuke leapt out of the way as their jutsus roared past, finally ending when one hit the defensive wall around the Archives while the other hit the building itself. The two brothers regrouped again before they guards they had killed.

"That jutsu," Sasuke panted. "Is worth one Chidori."

"Mine costs one Raikiri," Itachi commented calmly. "But at least we've finished… erm… many guards."

Sasuke raised one eyebrow and said sarcastically. "Yeah…_ many _guards."

"Shut up."

"Might as well, more are coming," Sasuke said as he geared himself for another onslaught. Everything seemed easier around Itachi. Just like the first time he ice skated, when he was five. He had been afraid of falling, but when Itachi had held his hand, he had felt confident, as if he could do anything and Itachi would catch him. Sasuke pulled out two of the Three Uchiha Knives, one in each hand, just as the guards reached them.

Itachi felt less comfortable with his little brother around. He had long mastered the art of teamwork, but he had also mastered fighting alone. With both mastered, fighting as the lone wolf was always the better option from then on. You did not need to prepare for your teammate. You did not need to cover for him. Which was what he was currently doing for Sasuke. You only fended for yourself with nothing else to care for.

Itachi reached into his weapons pouch, performing the handseals for the Hurricane Slasher jutsu at the same time faster than the eye could react. Then as he pulled out a long dagger, he held the technique within his body, waiting to be unleashed. Itachi parried a downward slash with his dagger, then scissor kicked, cutting the guard's leg from underneath. In an instant, his dagger's blade was pointing upwards and buried a hole in the soft flesh of the zombie's jaw, the tip of the blade just protruding between the guard's eyes.

Itachi ripped the blade out of the cold head, and whirled around only to duck beneath a jabbing sword blade. He slid between the guard's legs, leaving the guard to see only dust. Then the Uchiha was up in a flash, the guard robbed of his head. Itachi glared forward threateningly at the guards, concealing the handhold of his dagger by turning his hand at the guards. He rapidly secured an exploding note to the dagger with his fingers.

Then he charged forward, appeared in front of the first guard and ripped the man's heart from his chest, kicked the man away. He faked to the left and appeared to the zombie on the right, stuck the dagger deep within the zombie's neck before kicking the zombie into the crowd.

Itachi whirled to the left. He quickstepped, shimmering side to side, then appearing to the guard directly and released the power within him. "Hurricane Slasher. Sasuke! Get out of the way!"

Sasuke's ears wriggled at the warning, and he dodged to the side, spinning as he went and lashing out, tearing through their chests and backslashing their sides. He appeared on the other side in half a second, just as a great tornado barrelled its way past. Spinning the rings of the Uchiha Knives on his finger, Sasuke ripped out an artery from its neck, spinning with the motion over the guard's shoulder. Landing on the ground low, Sasuke knicked out another zombie's knee tendons, which dropped the zombie to the ground. With one rapid slash, Sasuke beheaded the zombie, revealing gray, cold insides.

Sasuke turned away from the gory sight. More guards were piling onto the field, though the flow had lessened, at last the end of Orochimaru's experiments was in sight. He assessed the situation and put his fingers in a cross. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Four Sasukes appeared at his side. The chakra was worth it if he were to fight off five of these zombies by himself using minimum chakra. Sasuke blasted his Sharingan to Level Three and charged.

He and his clones faded left and right like a shadow, sliding away from their kicks and punches as he fought. Sasuke himself ducked under a roundhouse kick. As the leg passed over his head, he came up, using his Uchiha knife to slice through its thigh. A hand swished towards his neck, but Sasuke raised his knife, using its point to stop the hand. Using his free hand, Sasuke gathered chakra in his fist and punched the zombie with the taijutsu he had learnt from Rukawa. "Houshou!"

Behind him, his clones exploded into small clouds.

Sasuke drew out his Fuuma Shuriken, locking the positions of the zombies that had stepped in with his Sharingan._ Come! At Level Three, I can take all of you on. That is the power of my… the Uchiha advanced bloodlimit!_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!"

Rukawa heard Naruto shout. He landed on the ground running. He fought alone now, with nothing to care for except for Naruto's life. He threw a fan of shuriken, forcing the zombies to twist aside before he leapt into the air and took them out swiftly.

"Kai!"

Rukawa heard mild, harmless explosions as Naruto released his genjutsu. _Sand Shuriken no Jutsu. _Dirt rose from the ground and pitched themselves forward, shaped like chinese stars as they shot forward like darts, picking out the zombies in one hail. Rukawa skidded to the right and swung a left hook. He dodged twice and heel kicked the zombie once he appeared behind it.

"Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Rukawa took the dead zombie by the collar and swung it around as a shield from Naruto's explosion. But he was still blasted forward, landing heavily in the dirt.

He heard something crack, like a rib bone. But no pain was blossoming in his chest, so it wasn't his. Rukawa saw Naruto's brief grimace before a spear was thrust forward. Rukawa jerked to the right and lashed out, tearing the spear from the guard's grip.

He approached the guard with caution. The guard stood stock still, then he bent down and ran forward. Rukawa thrust his spear left, anticipating the guard's movements. The guard jabbed his right foot down to change his direction quickly, heading for Rukawa's current blind spot.

Rukawa switched his grip and whacked the guard in the side. The guard fell as all of his ribs splintered, some puncturing his heart and lungs. Rukawa stepped away from his prize.

Metal sliding through real flesh and blood splattering as the metal was pulled out reached Rukawa's ears. He had long been used to stabbing cold, hard, dead flesh, so when he heard the sound, Rukawa forced himself to concentrate on fighting off the zombies.

He knew it was Naruto, his third closest companion and friend. The training he had received since four was working now. Before, Rukawa never had an acquaintance, so the basic ninja rule: Never show your emotions no matter the circumstance had never really applied. Still, Rukawa calmly took out the zombies around him. They were nothing but puppets, already dead.

But then Rukawa heard Naruto call his name and for help. He looked around and took in Naruto's pale and dying face. That meant one thing. Kyuubi was out of action for the moment. But why?

Rukawa turned back to his opponents. He would think about that after he saved Naruto. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

His shadow clones formed beside him, then darted to Naruto's, Sasuke's, and Itachi's side. Standing beside their respective principles, they held one hand out, and said, "Electric dome prison."

Naruto elevated into the air with the ball of electricity around him.

With their safety net in place, Rukawa could use his jutsu comfortably. He flashed through the handseals. "Shinigami's hand."

A wisp of black flowed out from an invisible hole from Rukawa's hand, and the entire place burned white. The wisp of black howled as it travelled through the field, not entering the building or archive, only the field. It ran through the zombies and Rukawa's clones as if they were air. The zombies and clones degenerated into particles, and the wisp consumed them. Dead or alive, they all vanished with the wisp. Then the flash of searing white disappeared.

Rukawa lowered his hand, saw that Naruto was safe, and crumpled to the floor.

Itachi watched with apprehension as the black wisp approached him, then slid off as it touched the electric prison. Rukawa had talked about this jutsu once. Electricity was from the sky, but lightning created death once it struck a person. Thus he could interpret his chakra style as "Death God (Shinigami)". With that in mind, Rukawa called up the Shinigami's services without his soul taken.

But, the repurcussions of using the jutsu was tremendous, which is why this was the first time Itachi had ever seen Rukawa do the jutsu. It was, Rukawa said, an unfinished jutsu. He would never complete it, but if it was, it would be called, Black Angel.

Itachi was dropped to the ground when the Electric Dome Prison suddenly zapped off. He looked across the field to Sasuke and Sasuke nodded. His little brother knew what to do. Sasuke ran down the left side of the building, and Itachi took the right side. It was clear, now that the mass of guards were gone, where their teammates were.

Sasuke dropped to his knees and ripped Naruto's clothes apart to inspect the fatal wound. It was slick, just between the rib bones, and were pulled out just as easily. Sasuke felt for Naruto's pulse. Incredibly weak and getting fainter.

Sasuke pulled his now bload soaked hands from Naruto's shirt and shot through handseals. "Chuusuusei Biribiri!"

He struck the point opposite Naruto's wound. The heart. The electrical pulse struck and froze all of Naruto's functions immediately. Sasuke felt Naruto's pulse again. Gone. Good. The blood pouring from Naruto's injury lessened considerably now that the heart was not pumping out the blood like no tomorrow.

"Itachi, some help here," Sasuke called out to his brother.

Itachi ran up to Naruto and his brother. "Okay. Take Rukawa back to the inn and leave a shadow clone with him. Then come back here as fast as you can."

Sasuke nodded, flashed to Rukawa's side and picked the boy up, then disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

Itachi looked back at Naruto. Sasuke had done right. He hadn't wet his pants at Naruto being almost dead. Now that Naruto was half alive but shut down, he could heal the wound as best as he could. Itachi concentrated his healing chakra over the wound.

_Come out, Kyuubi. Why aren't you… oh. Gaara, hurry up and unseal the seal. Sasuke, get your ass back here as soon as you can. Shit. How did things come to this._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two circles of kanji were completed. They glowed from orange and red and shone. Sakura's retinas were burned as the red devoured the large, complicated seal, which peeled from the wall. Plaster melted and dripped to the ground, revealing another wall of steel, doused with blood, two coffins set into the wall.

Sakura stared as the paper pasted across the coffins started to burn too. Sasuke's and Rukawa's word came back to her.

_"They can summon hanyous (half-demons)."_

"We have to go, Gaara. Call Temari and Kankurou. We leave the building now."

"Yes," Gaara said, apparently thinking the same as her. Gaara's mental shout for his sister and brother rang through even Sakura. Temari and Kankurou brushed Gaara's mind, signalling their consent.

Gaara and Sakura hurried down the corridor and up the stairs, his Third Eye now formed and in front of them as they tore up the stairs recklessly, not caring for stealth as Gaara's sand simply devoured the Archives personnel.

"Hanyous… what can they do?" Sakura asked Gaara as they sped down the corridor.

"I do not know. Itachi-sensei is powerful, but uncontrolled, demons outstrip humans easily. Take your- I mean, our Yondaime for example. He died sealing the Kyuubi. But Hanyous might have different powers."

Sakura burst through the door and shouted, "Itachi-sensei! The hanyous have been unleashed! I… eh?"

She stared at the empty field, of which stood Itachi and Sasuke, and lay Naruto.

Without turning around to look at his female subordinate, Itachi nodded as he watched the Kyuubi's chakra envelope Naruto's being. Red, bubbling chakra encased Naruto thickly, and a deathly aura filled the air.

Gaara stepped up next to Itachi. "Itachi-sensei, maybe only Naruto himself can defeat the two Hanyous. After all, he has the Kyuubi, who has surfaced and is the King of the Demons."

"I just realised that."

Naruto's face marks deepened and his haif got spikier as chakra concealed every fibre of his body. His fatal wound had been reduced to his original skin and flesh. Then his eyes burst open. Sakura gasped at the amber eyes that contrasted deeply with his normal cerulean ones. This Naruto was different, darker and more powerful.

Naruto got on his hands and feet like a wild, albeit intelligent animal, his nails lengthened to claws and he bared his fangs ferociously. Long, Kyuubi-like ears and tail adorned him, taking shape as chakra.

"Get back. This is Naruto's fight. He can handle the Hanyous himself."

Then Temari and Kankurou burst through the door as Sakura and Gaara had, though on their backs were packs which were filled with scrolls and documents. They joined their teammates just in front of the wall, tensed and waiting for the half demons to appear.

Naruto ferally sniffed the air, then growled cautiously.

Suddenly, the Sound Archives burst open. Gaara called forth his sand, and their built walls all around them, even on top of them. Itachi heard stone and brick crash on the compact dirt. When the sand was lowered and replaced into Gaara's gourd, it was a sight to behold.

They were men, but not completely human, as it was obvious. One had a hawk's beak and wings, with a mouth guard slung around his neck. His eyes, though human, had bird like pupils. Long, brown and hazel hair was sleeked back on his head, and concealed his feathered ears. His body was essentially human, but his legs were bird claws. The other had a face like a lynx's, and he pawed the ground intelligently.

But the freakiest thing wasn't their looks; it was the raw, uncontrolled power that they emanated endlessly like a loose tap.

"Itachi-sensei, where are Sasuke and Rukawa?" Fear betrayed Sakura's words as she spoke them.

"They are alright as they can be. Sasuke will be here soon, he's carrying Rukawa back to the inn. Rukawa… he's okay as a person who has defied a Shinigami can be."

"Did Sasuke use Level Three?"

"Yes, it saved his life and lost a lot of others. He has definitely improved ever since I've been teaching him. And so have you, unsealing the seal. You saved Naruto."

"It wasn't really me," Sakura said modestly. "Gaara was the one who suggested the Puppet Glance."

"And without you Gaara wouldn't have unsealed the seal fast enough. Sakura, shoulder what you have done, no matter good or bad, for you will have deserved it," Itachi said maturely._ Heck. I'm only seventeen and I'm spouting nonsense and polluting people's minds. What did I just say? That was so corny, Uchiha Itachi. _

But Sakura seemed to have taken his words seriously and drunk it in. Itachi stopped there. And it didn't hurt to claim credit for what you haven't done.

"Those two Hanyous, are dead," Kankurou smirked. "These people don't compare to Gaara, let alone the Kyuubi. It won't be much of a fight."

"No, there won't be a fight," Gaara interrupted.

Temari looked around. "So Naruto will thrash them before any two-sided fight can happen?"

"No. Unlike the Nine Great Demons, minions such as these, even when joined with humans, cannote go against us demon lords."

"But I thought there'd be danger?" Sakura asked._ After all you said that even Itachi-sensei will have nothing on them. _Gaara merely looked at her. "I did not say they were a problem. You asked what were they, not 'can we defeat them'."

Temari banged Gaara on the head. "Sorry, Sakura. This guy has a social disorder. Too much cynicism."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Kid, let me take care of this.**

_You're speaking to me now? What happened? I nearly died, fox._

**What's with the weak voice? Saw death and was scared of it? Still, sorry, kid. My powers were suppressed by some powerful seal, but that seal has been unsealed, just in time. Let me take care of this.**

_The great Kyuubi-sama said sorry! La la la la la la…_

**Shut. Up. Brat.**

_So I get reduced to brat again. When will I become man? Or human?_

**With the way you are now? Never.**

Naruto slid into the back seat of his mind again as Kyuubi took over the controls. He felt his jaw move. **_"Minions! I am the Dark Lord, King of Demons, Kyuubi. Submit."_**

Naruto felt the demons within the Hanyous shudder, but the mad human side of them rejected their other half. **_"Dream on, pig face."_**

Naruto felt Kyuubi's anger at their insolence. To think that they would defy the Dark Lord! Kyuubi's thoughts were influencing his own. **_"Insolence. Be perished to the underworld."_**

Naruto lifted out a commanding hand and passed the sentence. The Hanyous fell and were pressed to the ground, as if a vaccuum cleaner was on the other side of the earth. Then they were plugged, their human body disappearing with their demon spirits.

Naruto felt his body shudder as Kyuubi's control was confined to its jail once again. Naruto turned around, his body painfully changing back to its original, normal human statae.

Sakura was looking back at those blue eyes. "Good work Naruto."

"Ah, how touching. And what power the _Dark Lord_ has over his insolent minions! I am so frightened," Kankurou said sacarstically, wiping an imaginary tear.

"And the best male actor award goes to Uzumaki Naruto. Give the guy the prize," Sasuke said behind Kankurou. Naruto scanned them all, then realised. "Where's Rukawa?"

"The question should be how's Rukawa, Naruto. Aniki, Sakura, both of you are our best genjutsu users. Maybe you can enter his mind and find some way to bring him round. He's in a coma, but not in a coma."

"What did I do?" Naruto asked.

"You nearly died, so Rukawa sacrificed himself," Sasuke said, hiding his coldness behind his voice. But Itachi seemed to have sensed it anyway. "Sasuke."

Sasuke looked away at the ground.

"Naruto, it wasn't your fault. If anything, it would be Rukawa's. We're all ninja. We all have to follow the code, no matter what. It was his decision to use the jutsu he used, to whatever expense, he knew the repurcussions and was fully prepared to accept it. This could even be a case of breaking the twenty-fifth ninja rule," Itachi said.

Naruto looked up at Itachi. "How bad is it? You even 'forgot' your belief in teamwork."

Itachi sighed. They were all getting too smart for their own good. "Once Rukawa gets up, it'll be very different from how you know him now."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Am I getting off to the right start on their different characters? And, argh. Thirteen pages out of eighteen of fight scenes. Is this too much?

And Chuusuusei Biribiri (Central Nervous System Electrical Shock) is a jutsu where the ninja turns their chakra into an electrical pulse which is transmitted into an enemy's body. It was used by Tsunade (not exclusively), first seen in Chapter 164. This information is courtesy of NarutoFan. But here, instead of where it is applied to and how it works, I made Sasuke stop Naruto's living functions to stop the blood flow.

This chapter came out late because I was busy rewriting the first chapter. The second chapter will be out soon. Anyway, I need to calm down and start planning again. The next chapter can be a) diffiicult to write, or b) a slack off.

Anyway, my fight scenes quality is probably dropping. My lack of vocab on this sort of thing was really egging me, so I'll do some research. I think I'm getting girly, talking with girly girls so much doing the holidays. This is bad… Still, being a ninja is not all about jutsus, its also about your intelligence and improvisation, which I learnt from Casino Royale, so I'll be using that next time.

Please review! I really appreciate everything you review.

And thanks a lot, Edengrave and Aknut, more people are moving from chapter one to two.

Next chapter comes fast.


	17. Chapter Sixteen Encounter with Him

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Neither do I profit from this other than the satisfaction of writing and reading my reviews.**

Yo! Been in Japan for two weeks! Fourteen days, and I forgot that my room floor is wood and not carpet. Fine, lame. Just got back today. And now I'm pissed that my com isn't giving me my internet so I won't be able to upload it today!

Still, I wanna thank my reviewers: **aknut, doomforyou, sn1k3rd00dle **for the comments you gave. I really appreciated them, so, this chapter is for you people.

**Chapter Sixteen-- Encounter**

They say that the gates of hell does not even touch the surface of what the fiery nightmare really is. If that was so, Kazuya thought, the devil would have no souls in his domain that would last a minute. But it was true, in a sense. As souls were sucked into the forever open gates of hell, hollowed shrieks of misery leaked from its hideous mouth. He could only imagine the atrocities that were performed in that place. The gates of hell was a busy place. Spires of fire shot from nonexistent ground and reached a nonexistent ceiling. Many souls were chained along the length of the conal pillars.

These were people whom the rebel angels could not bring into their place, but belonged there.Their bodies were alive, no matter their age, but gave no sign of life either, so they were either cremated, buried, or decomposed, while their souls lived on. He was chained to the spire himself, but he reckoned that his being was showing signs of life, if not, he would know it. Of the thousands of souls, Kazuya only recognised two. One was opposite him but a few places away. And Haku, just beside him.

"_Why are you alive?" Kazuya had asked bluntly._

_Haku, blinded by pain and too hoarse from screaming, merely blinked in reply at somewhere across the hellhole._

It was then that he had seen the Yondaime Hokage.

Kazuya was jolted out of the flashback he had used to take his mind off the pain. That was the only substantial memory he had. He knew who he was, who Shisui-sama was, his jutsus, but that was it. Perhaps he would be able to recall once he returned to earth.

A rebel angel leered at him; he had broken the memory. He raised the twisted whip, dangling it in front of Kazuya's face. Its the clawed tip tickled his collarbone and he trembled in fear. Fear of the pain. The fire that was constantly burning him up and the torture for the past hours had exceeded his stamina against pain, the stamina that had been accumulated from his years under Shisui. Suddenly the tip dug into his flesh and let rip.

His initial attempts at muffling his screams went to nothing by the fifth stroke, and he joined with the cries of the souls about him. Blood drenched down freely.

Indeed, now that he was back here, the memories of his long torture at the foot of hell's fortress had flooded back. He was going to lose himself to these dark angels.

Unconciously, Kazuya began to knock on a door he had sworn many times never to knock._ Shisui… help me._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shisui reclined on the long sofa, occasionally reaching out for a sip of red wine. The bottle was just beside the filled glass, dated thirty years ago. Old and sweet. It had been two weeks since Kamui and he had checked in under the aliases of "Shinto Jin" and "Ueda Takasen", two wealthy businessmen.

Shisui barely acknoledged the stained glass and ancient artefacts that adorned the large, two-leveled suite, with the soft, silk pillows and the ever-ready bar counter. He had been immersed in luxury too long to notice it. Instead, he was consumed in his own thoughts, savouring every moment of it.

If he imagined the wine to be blood… Shisui drew a steep breath as his heart pounded wildly. He could feel himself grow more and more excited with each thought. But that aside, he would not let his emotions get the better of him this time. Shisui had everything planned out. The pieces were already arranging themselves for him.

Shisui turned his attention to the high ceiling._ That moment will come, _he decided.

Kamui descended the stairs smoothly. Shisui liked his partner's every move. As graceful, as agile as a cat. It moved him. The other Akatsuki pairs may not have liked each other's opinions, but this pair was different. Even though Kamui may not see him in the same light as he did him, Shisui was content. A puppet like Sasori or a creep like Hidan would never have touched his heart.

"Shisui-san, there are a few implications. I've downloaded all the required information of our targets, but when hacking into the Konoha database, there were four organizations within it. ANBU, CTN, AA, and ROOTS. You told me there were only the first three. Logging on to ROOTS proved to be beneficial.

"Firstly, it's run by failed Hokage candidate Danzou. Secondly, without the knowledge of ANBU, it's sent a team to assinate Uchiha Itachi's squad after they've completed their mission. Thirdly, they've checked into here to wait for them, just like we have."

Shisui sat up properly, his eyes flashing. "Have any of them checked out?"

"No. But I can't be sure if they sent a part of their men ahead."

"I had a mission under Danzou, when I became a Jounin. I know the way he works and commands. I don't think he would send some of his people ahead while the rest slack."

"Then I presume our next course of action would be to eliminate this ROOTS team?"

"Yes. I'm busy here, you know. So could you…"

Kamui raised an eyebrow but agreed. A couple of elite chuunin, he could handle easily.

His eyes lit up, the closest he could to an anticipated smile that promised blood, although Shisui was sure the man had never thought of such sadistic thoughts. It was always "eliminate the target" if there was killing to be done.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Shikamaru were discussing the finer points of shogi about two hours till the Sound Invasion started.

Then Kurenai came into the tent. Her eyes twitched at their ditched weapons and the shogi board. She raised a hand. "No need to explain what both of you were doing. I'm here to report that Sandaime Hokage-sama and his guards will be arriving in twenty minutes. He has left Jiraiya-sama in charge of Konoha at the moment."

Kakashi's eyes went wide. "Jiraiya? He's come back?"

"Yes. Suddenly. Out of the blue. Perfect timing. Whatever you call it. He just appeared, and I heard there was quite a fuss before the toad hermit gave in. Now go back to your chessboard."

"It's not a chessboard! It's a shogi board! S-H-O-G-I! For your information, Shogi far exceeds chess in terms of…" Kakashi and Shikamaru yelled immediately, defending their precious.

"Whatever." Kurenai said with a wave of her hand and exited the tent.

"Women." Shikamaru huffed angrily.

"Yeah," Kakashi added, almost intelligently.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ROOTS team was sitting along a long mahogany table in the hotel's restaurant. There was nothing less than ten credits on the leather bound menu, which was iced water straight from some high mountain.

Sai remembered the chuckle Renzo had given as he slapped on the credit card Danzou had issued them and the few notes along with it. When he asked about it later, Renzo said he'd read it from a book. It was the casual thing rich men did when they tipped waiters or the like. Sai wondered how Renzo had gotten hold of such a book, and who would spend time writing such things. He'd rather books of Impressionism and Romanticism. Dashes of visible paint or carefully blended strokes called chiaroscuro.

He was cutting up his lobster when the man made his way towards them. Sai's training immediately sized the man up. _Nineteen years old. One hundred and seventy-six centimetres. Fifty-six kilograms. Power level…_ Sai was surprised he couldn't read it. But definitely ninja.

Kamui spoke in a low voice that reached only those sitting along the table. "ROOTS operatives. Ordered to assasinate Team Itachi. I would like to… converse with you all outside the hotel so as to not create choas and cause alarm."

Sai frowned and looked at Renzo. He wondered what else Renzo's books told him.

"After our lunch, sir. And you can sit right there to observe us until we're done." Renzo said smoothly. To the restaurant manager it seemed like a reunion of old friends.

Kamui nodded and sat at a table five seats away and ordered a mocha he did not touch as his mind reverted to a battle plan. He had initially intended to kill them in their rooms, only to find that they were at the lobby restaurant.

Kamui stirred his coffee. His intentions of a silent kill had been ruined by their absence. He had entered the rooms like a fool. But he had not been irritated, or even annoyed. Professionals did not get annoyed by minor setbacks. They merely rearranged his plans. No need for a cardio exercise.

The ROOTS operatives finally finished their lunch and wiped their mouths on the napkins provided. The man called 'Renzo' signed the bill and pocketed the credit card. He spared Kamui a glance before leading his men out of the hotel. Kamui paid for his bill and went out, too.

They stood outside in the thicket of the forest, the ROOTS faced off with the anonymous man whom they knew nothing about but he seemed to know everything about them. Sai felt no fear. He hardly remembered the last time he had emotions at all.

ROOTS. All their operatives, except the minor ones, were more skillfull than ANBU. But all the ninjas added up, was only worth one platoon of ANBU men, which equalled to two Sannins. Kamui tilted his head. He could do that.

The ROOTS, with the exception of their two big guns Sai and Renzo, spread into formation and attacked strategically with a complicated tactic that only few could master with such deadly precision. Their training all seemed to be in naught as Kamui's eyes flashed brilliant green, deep purple, then navy blue. Even their most aggressive player died within a matter of seconds. Kamui cocked his head again, returning to his original position.

Sai tasted fear for the first time. It was a stranger to him, but he knew what it was. If he had been a Chuunin, it would have appeared as if this man had killed the ROOTS team without moving. Sai pulled out his long Chinese brush. Fear could be curbed.

Kamui's eyes changed colours again. Green, purple, blue, white, then a magnificent gold.

Sai stared at the eyes intently, trying to figure out the pattern. The next thing he knew, Renzo was in front of him, a hand sticking out of his back that held his heart to Sai's face. Kamui jerked his blood washed hand out of the man's chest, then let Renzo fall to the floor.

Then he turned to Sai, but the shinobi was gone.

Kamui gave chase, and within two seconds, he had pinned the boy to the ground, his hand clenched over the boy's face. He considered his options. He could crush Sai's skull. He could capture him for no reason.

Kamui chose the third option. Raising a hand, he flashed through a long string of one-handed seals. His other hand, which clamped over Sai's face, pulsed white. "Ninpou: Mind Wipe!"

As the ROOTS member named 'Sai' convulsed on the floor, Kamui walked away, incinerated his previous prizes with a Grand Fireball, then returned the hotel, not before ditching his blood drenched suit into the bin outside the revolving glass doors.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hokage had arrived. Behind him, twenty armoured men with weapons strapped across their backs and hooked onto their belts. All hundred and fifty ninjas came out of their activities to greet him. And after an encouraging speech, the ninjas were dismissed and they went back to whatever they had been doing.

Sarutobi entered Kakashi's tent. By now, Shikamaru had left along with his Shogi board. Kakashi wore his standard issue jacket and hefted the sheathed dagger, strapping it to his back.

"Kakashi, you haven't used that ever since the Third Ninja World War," Sarutobi noted.

"No, I haven't," Kakashi said, not bothering to explain the reason for not using White Fang's dagger. "Our troops are ready for battle. We plan to attack in an hour and a half."

"Team Itachi?" The Hokage asked worriedly.

Kakashi answered, "Team Seven returned safely after recovering the documents. Four were badly injured, though all suffered from chakra defeciency. One is out for the moment. I failed their mission, though. The Council had given the wrong information. From Haruno Sakura's report, Orochimaru had created zombies of genin or low-chuunin level, and two half-demons. Team Seven was assigned to kill all ANBU-equivalent personnel. I had no choice but to fail them. Their current mission is to go back for back-up. We underestimated the Sound force."

Sarutobi sighed. "I shall give them some compensation money, and if I can pull it off, amnesty from this invasion, plus credit for a B-ranked mission."

"Itachi will say that money can't recover everything, Hokage-sama. You will only hurt his pride."

"The money can be used to replenish weapons, stock up on rations and medicine. They will be rewarded nonetheless. Itachi-san has no say in this."

Kakashi dropped the matter immediately. "Nara Shikamaru and I have laid down battle plans. I'll show it to you now, sir."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even though they had been excluded from the impending invasion, Team Seven was still busy. Temari and Kankurou had split into many sand clones, and ran from tent to tent to restock, repair, and deliver weapons, thus lifting this burden off the many teams. As a result, the ninjas were able to discuss battle plans and make preparations. Gaara, with the sand and dirt in the ground and the help of Shukaku's gift of chakra, built walls of defenses around the encampment and other tactical positions, alone. Sakura distributed rations and medical supplies.

Itachi and Sasuke had awoken two days earlier with their chakras back to normal. As Uchihas, they had the natural stomach for quick recovery. Some minor cuts and bruises had healed, though the major ones were still swollen, bleeding, and bandaged. Even so, this did not hinder them from taking care of the welfare of the team. They boiled water, cooked meals, and washed wounds and re-bandaged them.

Naruto was still asleep, and even though all his wounds and chakra had regenerated, the physical trauma of Kyuubi taking control of him was evident enough to keep the blond fatigued for the past few days.

Rukawa, on the other hand, had been diagnosed by a Hyuuga to have severe chakra disfunctions. His chakra core and coils had been destroyed and torn to shreds, resulting in chakra inactivity. His immobile chakra made no automatic effort to heal his wounds as they would have. He was also in a constant state of unconcious, sometimes sweating and squirming like one would in a terrible nightmare, then others totally immobile, as if dead. The contact with the Shinigami had taken many things from him.

Sasuke was boiling rags for bandages. He winced as piercing pain ripped through various wounds everytime he added firewood and crisp leaves or fanned the embers. He still remembered days before when his brother and he had been forced to turf the ground for firelighting and shuddered. It had been a torturous experience. "Will Rukawa ever wake up?"

"Yeah. He's been up before, right?" Itachi replied shortly..

Sasuke paused. "Has it got to do with Shisui? Everything he's said about that man… it affected him a lot. I don't want to give Rukawa back to him."

"Shisui's not the only one. Maybe a medical expert can do it. Like Chiyo of the Sand, or Tsunade the Sannin, rumored to be better than Chiyo. But they have not been heard from ever since the Third Ninja World War."

"Almost everything has got to do with the Third War, isn't it?"

"Maybe. That isn't our current priority though. It's to go for back-up."

"If Shisui wanted to create an opening for Rukawa to return to him, it's a success," Sasuke snarled and chucked a few leaves into the fire, and the leaves turned black as the flames rose higher. "I hate it. I hate this weakness. I hate it."

Was he referring to himself or Naruto? Itachi studied his brother carefully as he asked, "Have you forgiven Naruto?"

Sasuke's face changed into an unreadable mask as he stared directly into Itachi's eyes. "Yes, Aniki."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sai felt odd. Oddly blank as he stood among these… trees. That, he seemed to know. But what was his name? Who was he? ROOTS. Konoha. He could remember locations, knowledge of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. He was a ninja… but what sort of person was he? Who was he?

There was Danzou, and another face but this face was without a name. Sai looked through his bag. He looked through the scrolls. Mission parameters. A bingo book. Somehow he knew that he had failed this mission. It was time to return to ROOTS to report to Danzou. Then he found a sketch book. Pages after pages of himself. Then two blank pages at the centre of the book. After that were sketches of another ninja, whoever it was. Sai snapped the book shut. Perhaps Danzou would have answers to this mystery.

Not knowing who he was but knowing what he was, Sai stood up and left for Konoha.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alas, the heavy weight of burden has been set upon your shoulders! I grieve for your loss of youth. The heavenly spring of young age!"

"Get to the point, Gai… san," Itachi said. This man was a green beast. Totally inhuman and much less male. He disgraced all males.

Gai coughed and returned to his business-face. "Very well, young Itachi. My rival has ordered for your team to clear camp in fifteen minutes. Shall I help?"

"No, thanks," Itachi said hastily. He glanced at Sasuke, who was looking away. The last thing he wanted was for his little brother to be influenced and wearing green spandex. Sasuke. Spandex.

"Adieu, young Itachi!" And Gai retreated into glistening sunsets.

Itachi forced a wave. Then an idea struck him. "Wait, Gai-san!"

"Yes?"

"Could you get the rest of my team to come back here? As you can see… it's rather difficult to move about."

"Of course, anything to fuel your burning desire for youth!" Gai saluted, totally off the point.

Two minutes later, the Sabaku trio and Sakura were packing the tent and dousing the fire. Itachi tested his motory functions. All was well, although he wouldn't be carrying anything. Sasuke slung an arm over Sakura's shoulder for support, and Kankurou carried their belongings with Temari. Gaara summoned his sand to support the unconcious Naruto and Rukawa and to float along with the team. In this very odd fashion, Team Seven exited the area.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shisui smirked. His partner had removed their obstruction and staged it as the work of a murderer who probably lived in the hotel. It would give them time to prepare to capture the jinchuukri. It puzzled him that Kamui had only wiped the mind of one of them, but that would have a reason, so there was no point in asking.

"It should be relatively easy, getting the jinchuukri. They are only a jounin and eight chuunins," Kamui said.

Shisui nodded, then called out, "Kimimaro!"

The white haired man appeared at the doorway, testing his Akatsuki cloak.

"Our target will be arriving in a few days, so I'll tell you about your mission. You will take the midgets: Sabakus, Haruno, the younger Uchiha, and Nine-tails. Kill them, but leave the jinchuukri alive."

"What if I kill him?" Kimimaro retorted rudely. These men might be his saviours, but he was still his own. Orochimaru's dying gift to him, as Kimimaro liked to think.

Kamui answered for Shisui coldly, "Our plans will be ruined, and you will die immediately."

Kimimaro shut his mouth. He knew the imbalance in their skill. It was better not to kill the jinchuukri. At least there were other prizes, namely Sabaku no Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke. "Then who will you take?"

"I will take Uchiha Itachi on," Kamui said. "Shisui wants the other kid."

"But of course if they want a trade, I would be happy to hear it. Either way, they will only slow things down," Shisui said.

Kimimaro looked at his superior questioningly. "What did that mean?"

Both men ignored him, and Kimimaro was left to his new suit again, a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two days later, Team Seven camped at a small village which made a living off rice padi fields. It consisted mostly of the children of retired ninjas, who had grown into adults, or retrenched ninjas due to certain nullifications. The villagers were kind, and offered a hut for them to stay.

Even though the roof was poorly thatched and the bed was a tatami mat over the wooden landing, Naruto found it much better than tents and thin sleeping bags. He had awoken at last at the smell of instant ramen that Sakura had cooked. Typical.

The next day, Team Seven left the hut, leaving a few credits with the villagers. A mile away from one of Fire Country's expensive hotels, Itachi noticed a few things with just a glance over the area.

Blood stains on the ground, some covered by leaves that fell from the trees above. Some disturbance in the dust where the night wind had not shifted. Traces of ash scattered on the floor. He could smell many deaths here. Twenty metres away, a low branch had snapped, some hairs caught in bushes not far away.

After his team's close inspection of the area and a radius of a hundred metres around the deathbed of incinerated corpses, one thing could be concluded.

"It all leads to the hotel, sensei," Gaara reported. "The works of a rogue ninja. The evidence is still fresh. About thirty-six hours. I found a bloodied jacket in the hotel bin. If he's in the hotel, it's our obligation to hunt him down."

Itachi nodded. "True. The number of credits we have is enough for a week, only two double rooms. The rest will be on "extra-beds" or the couches. Even the floor, if we can manage it."

Naruto groaned inwardly. He had a feeling he would be the one on the floor.

As his subordinates checked into the hotel under the lead of his younger brother, Itachi waited along a shadowed wall of the hotel, Rukawa on his back. Uchihas healed faster than even advanced bloodlimit holders, so his wounds were closed and not too close to reopening.

Half an hour later, the glass door of one of the room balconies slid open, and Naruto walked out, yawning. At this signal, Itachi ran up the wall quickly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gaara was not suited for formal wear. He looked odd in it. His red hair was short and cool, the definition of "punk" among the high-class, especially with his unique tattoo that he had carved on his forehead which was for the world to see. But if he was to dine in the precsense of the refined, a beige suit with a dark red shirt underneath to complement his hair could do it.

Then his sister stepped in. Nosey, irritating, girlish Temari, even though he knew that she was not as he called her. As a result, the youngest Sabaku was forced to slick his hair back, and puff on cologne to hide the smell of blood. Hardly a hassle, but Gaara made it to be.

The end product was… cool. With the sunglasses to hide the eye rings, Gaara looked like the son of a Yokuzu (mafia) boss.

"Why can't I just wear a shirt and pants like Sasuke?" Gaara grumbled to himself.

Naruto laughed. "Because, even without a suit, he looks more than presentable."

Sasuke fingered the navy blue collared shirt he had buttoned up and smirked, just to irk the redhead. Sakura had returned to bimbotic kunoichi when he came out of the toilet. Made sense then, if Naruto was becoming gay.

"Naruto, are you sure you can lecture Gaara?"

Naruto growled at the obvious insult. "What's that supposed to mean, Sasuke?"

Sasuke leant in. "Mean's that I'll help you get some real clothes, and some real girls."

Naruto's ears perked up. "Really?"

Sasuke nodded slyly. "Yeah, we're brothers, aren't we?"

Naruto nodded as he stole glances at his crush._ Sakura… Sakura… Sakura…_

Itachi smiled to himself. He had noticed Sasuke and Naruto's exchange. It was his brother's way of apologising. Not the best, but Sasuke rarely opened up ever since their parent's death. Emotion was one thing Sasuke rarely expressed due to his lack of experience.

The Jounin had planned to confront both boys seperately, but this was it. Problem solved, case closed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The three Akatsuki ninjas immediately spotted and recognised the large group teenagers donning formal wear. The stood out among the businessmen and their corporate wives, who walked in twos of fours, never more. Shisui and Kimimaro excused themselves from their dinner immediately and retreated quickly. They were well-known S-class criminals.

Kamui stayed on, undaunted by the prospect of meeting his targets as he continued to work through the seafood platter with polished ease. They would not recognise him. From young, he had been an unregistered ninja under Kazama-sama's care. During his many missions, he had used numerous aliases and identification papers. Kazama-sama made sure that he was untraceable, not even a dent in the records. When he died, it did not change either.

Shisui obtained Team Seven's two room numbers easily with his oral manipulation over the counter staff. The lift chimed pleasantly and he stepped out on the twelth floor, his shined shoes sinking into the soft carpet, Kimimaro on his heels.

His pace quickened as he reached the door. He was… excited. That was the word to express his current emotions. Shisui slid the palmed master card into the card reader. With a soft beep of green light, the lock slid back and the handle turned easily at his touch.

His grin grew.

Walking through the corridor was a dream. A very good dream, as it seemed. He traced the intricate patterns of the wall paper as he walked further, the beam from the overhead spotlight changed his shadow. Behind. On. Then in front of him.

The spacious room was cramped with belongings and a rented bed. A small figure was tucked beneath the duvet. Shisui approached with enough caution, but didn't bother to hide his presence. His former apprentice would have been up by now when he had entered.

He pulled back the covers and flipped the boy onto his stomach. He lifted the shirt to see bandages wrapped all across, just redressed. But the exposed flesh revealed a curse scar burning amber.

Shisui frowned as his brain tallied up the facts. "Shinigami's hand. Foolish," he said softly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto smiled blissfully. Appalling the waiters and waitresses, he had ordered twelve bowls of all twelve of their ramen types. Sasuke sighed while he and the rest of his team ate through their dinners, only halfway through. An etiquette lesson was in order.

"What may I do for you, sir?" The waiter, a little frightened, asked the blond.

Naruto pointed at the menu. "This, that, and the one over there. Thanks, sir!"

Itachi placed a hand over his eyes._ Even the waiter raised an eyebrow. _"Sorry, the child had a touch of brain fever when he was a toddler. Please excuse him."

The waiter's eyebrow rose even further, but he still nodded. And retreated as fast as humanely possible. He had never seen a butler who was more refined than the master.

An hour later after clearing the dishes and making conversation in order to complete the "wealthy" façade, Itachi signed the bill, gave the waiter an enormous tab, and followed his surbodinates to their rooms.

Naruto stopped singing the Barney theme song. "Ru-Rukawa!"

The bed was stain with blotches of blood, long coils of equally soaked bandages were on the bed. The empty bed.

Frowning, Sasuke tested the toilet door. Locked. Putting an ear to the door, he heard water spattering onto the tub. "Rukawa, are you in there?"

"Yeah," came the soft, almost cold, reply. "Don't worry. I've healed myself. Just taking a shower. I'll steal some bedsheets later."

Sasuke considered the answer for awhile, then noticed his teammates and brother staring at him, searching him for what he had heard. "He's fine. Just taking a shower. He's healed himself."

"Sorry for scaring you!" Came from under the door. Naruto let out a sigh of relief. Grinning nonchalantly, he put two hands behind his head.

"I guess I'll go get some bedsheets. Gaara, Kankurou, come on. I don't wanna face the mad murderer alone."

Sakura caught Naruto's drift quickly. She sighed. "Fine. I'll go dispose of the bedsheets."

Temari, who had not caught onto what Naruto had meant, like her siblings, because she had not been with the team for a long a time as them, wanted to accompany her teammate, so she went along unknowingly.

Itachi turned to Sasuke as soon as the door closed. "Sakura and Naruto sure caught on quickly."

"Yeah."

"Rukawa!" Itachi said loudly and rapped on the door. "It's just me and Sasuke now. Do you want to talk?"

The Uchiha brothers waited. A moment later, the tap creaked shut. Minutes passed, then the door opened and he came out, a striking contrast with the dead crimson eyes that swirled with three black commas. His face was etched with horror, at the same time empty of everything from the nightmarish visions he had experienced for the past days. And he was still sore from the pain in his back that he had been unable to react to because of his damaged chakra system.

Sasuke inched back a step. If Rukawa was in his stir-crazy mode it would be better to keep a distance between them.

"Don't worry, I'm past that already," Rukawa said. Sasuke was not comforted. The voice sounded as if the throat had been badly damaged by screaming. When Rukawa spoke again, he had healed his throat, and his voice was normal. "As both of you have probably concluded, Shisui is here. He found me, and healed me. And I woke up, but I knew. He'll be back for us."

"Why didn't he kidnap you… or kill you?" Sasuke asked.

Rukawa grinned. Suddenly, Sasuke realised. He had noticed the dead, tired looking Sharingans, but he had not pondered over it. And the horror on Rukawa's face. Shisui's presence alone was less than that. He answered his own question. "Mangekyou Sharingan, to pass a message."

Rukawa had almost been killed, but he had avoided death by using the Sharingan.

"Correct. Two minutes in Tsukiyomi. Either Naruto or me. Either way, it will only be a delay. Of course, I would suggest me. If Shisui takes Naruto, he'll still come after me, and almost immediately. But I guess that if you give him me first, Naruto will have some time. Three years, in fact, as Shisui informed me."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Itachi asked.

Rukawa raised an eyebrow. "Akatsuki. It is an organization I know very little about. But I knew that they planned to capture the demon within every Jinchuukri for the power and chakra. As for me, Shisui has many things to do with a tool. Wash it, throw it, use it. Whatever."

"Don't talk like that!" Sasuke screamed as he grabbed Rukawa by the lapels. "Don't talk as if we'll let both of you, even one of you to them! Don't talk as if Shisui'll kill us so easily!" Sasuke pushed his face into Rukawa's. "And don't talk as if you won't fight against HIM!"

Rukawa closed his eyes and pried Sasuke's fingers off him. He looked as if he was going to break down under the pressure… or very angry. When he spoke, he sounded calm. "Of course I will fight. Even though I know that I cannot defeat him, I will fight with all that I have. Naruto has a chance if I give it to him. But let's face it, I am lost."

Sasuke backed away his eyes defiant, slightly bright.

Rukawa at Itachi. "He said he would meet us in two days. I intend to heal your injuries, the both of you, but I'll do that after both Sasuke and I cool down. Don't worry. For now, until forty eight hours are up, we are completely safe."

With that last word of hopelessness, Rukawa shoved his hands into his pockets and stalked out of the room. "I'll get my dinner."

Sasuke looked up at his brother for support. To his surprise, Itachi gave it. "I don't blame you for losing your calm like that, but if Rukawa loses hope, he does it with good reason, even if you and I won't acknowledge it. Now calm down and think of a battle plan."

"Don't worry. I don't feel like talking to him right now. I think I'll brush my teeth," Sasuke replied shortly and stalked to the toilet.

Itachi sighed and threw himself onto a rented bed, crossing his arms and legs and buried his head into his pillow._ I don't feel like talking either. That bastard's back and Rukawa doesn't think I can defeat him myself. What was with the kid, anyway? I'm getting pissed now._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Naruto's surprise, Itachi sent Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou back to Konoha the next day, saying, "Three of you should go back and call for back-ups from Jiraiya-sama. The four of us will clear up the rogue nin and join you guys later. Dismissed."

The Sabaku siblings bought the reason easily. It was necessary for Konoha's success, anyway.

"Now will you tell us what is really going on, Rukawa?" Sakura asked firmly. It was time they had some answers. She was as confused as Naruto, who knew nothing about Mangekyou Sharingans or Shisui. "I'm not going in on a fight thinking that it's a rogue nin we can handle easily, the five of us. I know you know answers. I know you didn't come back to life all by yourself."

"That's enough, Sakura. Let the guy breathe," Sasuke said.

Rukawa exhaled a deep breath. His gaze passed over the digital clock. Fourteen hours left. He looked into Sakura's determined gaze and held it. Drawing another deep breath, he told them everything, poring over every aspect of his life he could remember in a monotone that captivated his small audience.

"All of you are majorly talented individuals. Three years should be a huge boost to all of you," Rukawa ended.

"That still doesn't cut it, Rukawa. You're acting like you're older than us or something. We handle our own lives, yes? We'll save you and ourselves. That's a promise, yeah?"

Rukawa sighed. He stared at Itachi. Might as well boost the morale. He faked a smile. "Yeah, thanks, Naruto."

Itachi stared harder at his youngest surbodinate.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eleven hours later, dressed in full battle gear in a clearing of the forest stood Team Seven, facing off against the three Akatsuki ninjas.

Sakura studied the orange haired ninja with Sharingan for eyes. An air of professional confidence, and dark strength that lay beneath his slim frame._ So this is Uchiha Shisui, the man who murdered sensei and Sasuke's clan, and took in Rukawa. This is the man who has caused so much pain to the three of them. I won't back down now._

_Sasuke, _Naruto thought. _I know I let you and Rukawa down the last time. What you said was right head on. I'll… I'll make it up to you. I don't care if the damn fox dies or not._

Itachi studied his opponents. He recognised Kimimaro, the prized possession of Orochimaru. Of course there was Shisui. But the silver-haired man in the middle who was studying him carefully was a mystery. A member of the dangerous organization… he should know, but he did not.

Shisui introduced his partner indirectly. "Kimimaro. You take the kiddies. Kamui, you know what to do with Itachi. Kazuya, I don't care what you call yourself now. You can't hide, you called me when you were at devil's front door. There is, of course, the trade. You can save the Kyuubi kid for three years."

"Shisui, it's been some time. You still have that cockiness in you. Like the last time when I smashed your face into your butt," Itachi retorted coolly.

"That was five years ago, thank you," Shisui said. "I have changed. I now have little interest in you, Itachi. Which is why I've left you to my partner. He, on the other hand, has some beef with you. Mine is with your subordinate."

Sasuke glanced at his teammates. The trick was to split, separating the Akatsuki trio from each other, preventing flawless teamwork that Itachi was sure they had. He slipped a cloud bomb out of his pouch discreetly. He waited until Shisui's attention was centered on Itachi instead of all of them, as planned, then he raised his hand and hurled the smoke bomb between the two parties.

Leading Sakura and Naruto, Sasuke turned and fled from the battle.

"After them, Kimimaro!" Shisui ordered, before he turned away and ran in the opposite direction, where Rukawa had run.

Kimimaro obeyed happily. It was time to live for himself. The little kiddies would have no where to run.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Okay, 43 reviews into the 100000 word section. I don't really think I need to explain how I feel? But I guess its not that bad. 43 reviews which encouraged me to write even better and took me past my four chapter record into sixteen chapters! So thanks for the reviews, and the people who have been reading this story.

What can I say? I like this chapter. It was fast paced enough. I decided that a lengthy battle between Kamui and the ROOTS. Not that it did not take long. Notice that it takes him quite long to go through each member, not to mention that he missed Sai. And I guess you know how Sai's obsession with humane books and the sketchbook came about.

Haku was a surprise, wasn't it. I'll tell you how he comes into the story later. And please note that Arashi, Haku, and Rukawa all used sacrifice to get into the gates of hell. But that comes in much later.

I'm not done with their Sound mission either.

My main focus though, is the obvious in this chapter.

Please review, and thanks for reading!


	18. Chapter Seventeen Advantage

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Thank you, **Sn1ck3rD00dl3 **for the review.

**Before you read, take note of this. **

Team Seven Stats

Stats are measured from a scale of 0 to 5. The average Academy graduate will start off with 0 in each category. Genins are expected to have 1 in at least 2 subjects. Chuunins are expected to have 2 in 6 subjects or 3 in 3 subjects. Jounins are required to have 3 in all subjects or 4 in 3 subjects.

**Uchiha Sasuke- (Chuunin, Captain, Team Seven)**

**Ninjutsu: 3 Chakra Level: 2**

**Genjutsu: 1 Speed: 3**

**Taijutsu: 3 Strength: 2**

**Sealing: 1 Intelligence: 4 and a half**

**Haruno Sakura- (Chuunin, Member, Team Seven)**

**Ninjutsu: 1 Chakra Level: 1**

**Genjutsu: 1 Speed: 2**

**Taijutsu: 2 Strength: 1**

**Sealing: 2 Intelligence: 4**

**Uzumaki Naruto- (Chuunin, Member, Team Seven) **

**Ninjutsu: 2 Chakra Level: 5**

**Genjutsu: 1 Speed: 2**

**Taijutsu: 2 Strength: 2**

**Sealing : 1 Intelligence: 2**

**Kazuhiko Rukawa- (Chuunin, Member, Team Seven)**

**Ninjutsu: 5 Chakra Level: 3**

**Genjutsu: 2 Speed: 4**

**Taijutsu: 4 Strength: 2**

**Sealing : 2 Intelligence: 5**

**Uchiha Itachi- (Jounin, Mentor, Team Seven)**

**Ninjutsu: 5 Chakra Level: 4**

**Genjutsu: 2 Speed: 5**

**Taijutsu: 5 Strength: 3**

**Sealing: 3 Intelligence: 5**

**Chapter Seventeen- Advantage**

While they soared through the air, with a certain creep chasing after them, Sakura suddenly recalled one of Iruka's lessons.

"_One of the most important things about combat against a stronger opponent is knowing how to engage him in battle. Would striking first, as one would to a weaker opponent, be your course of action? Or would waiting as you would for your equal opponent be better?"_

_To the class' surprise, Shino spoke for the first time in a few weeks. "None of these, Iruka-sensei. Striking first will only allow your opponent to read your moves. Like what type of ninjutsu user you are. Wind, Fire, Lightning, Water, Earth? Or the genjutsu, or the taijutsu style you utilise. Once the opponent grasps these details, he can easily defeat you. Waiting for your opponent to strike would only mean immediate death. If he is faster, stronger, or both, he could use even a senbon to prick your jugular vein to kill you."_

_A thick silence of awe ensued. Then a smattering of applause. Only a few people were brave enough to clap._

_Iruka took it all in and smiled widely. "Excellent analysis. So what would be the best course of action then, if you can neither attack nor wait?"_

_Another silence followed, of everyone, including Naruto, thinking furiously. Sakura stole a peep at her Sasuke-kun. He looked bored, as if he knew the answer but was waiting for someone else to answer. Sakura blushed. He looked so cool!_

"_A clue, sensei?" Ino asked._

_Iruka waggled a finger. "I gave that in my question, Ino."_

"_Then could you, er, repeat your question?" Ino asked sheepishly._

"_Nyo," Iruka said, an evil smirk on his face._

_Five minutes later, Iruka could wait no longer and opened his mouth. Sakura quickly glanced at her crush. He raised his hand and answered almost tiredly, "If you can neither attack nor wait, defense. Running would be a stupid course of action. Your opponent can stab you in the back if that happens. Defense doesn't mean that you wait for your opponent, though," he said. "You can throw a shuriken that will miss him by a fraction, thus enticing him to come forward. Then you draw out the fight, analysing his moves, all in the name of defense, for only a minute, because any longer and you will be dead. Then you map out your moves and act accordingly. If it's a team, even better."_

_Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sasuke, you're the only nerd who can plan and act in a second."_

"_Any ninja should be able to do it, idiot," Sasuke retorted to the boy directly beside him. But, Sakura noted, it looked friendly. The conversation, that is._

_"Good answer, Sasuke," Iruka commended. "Although this form of defense is extremely dangerous with only a forty-nine percent rate of success, it is the best course of action."_

"Defense. Extremely dangerous defense," Sakura muttered. Unfortunately the whisper sensitive comlinks, courtesy of the riches of the Uchihas, picked it up.

"Yes, Sakura, weren't you listening?" Sasuke said impatiently. "So, anyway, Naruto, you send in three Kage Bunshins, two disguised as us. Then after that, something that Itachi taught us. You'll know what to do when you see the signal. Got it?"

"Yeah," came both answers.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Naruto said, two perfect replicas of himself appeared, and they cried, "Henge no Jutsu!"

With the cloned Sakura and Sasuke beside him, Naruto pulled ahead of his two teammates. They landed on a thick branch, and Sasuke put an ear to it. "Rapidly, eleven degrees to the right, straight ahead. He hasn't noticed us, only Naruto."

Sakura turned to said direction. "Then let's go, Sasuke."

He was impressed. She had guessed his next move. Another reminder that she wasn't an exurbant fan, but a real asset to the team.

Tailing the pink haired kunoichi, the Uchiha silently prayed that his plan would succeed. Iruka had been wrong. Not forty-nine. Forty-five. That was a lot of difference to overcome.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kimimaro poured chakra into his ears. After all, he had led most of his life in the Sound, and was bound to pick up their ways. A chord of melodies, five, hung in the air around him. Two, the loudest, was headed straight for him. A flash bomb landed at his feet.

_Boom._

Kimimaro snapped his eyes shut, and he heard a wave of senbons coming towards him. His eyes still closed, he raised both hands. His nails shot out, towards the senbons, then he shouted. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!"

His nails replicated, and each intercepted the senbons.

A movement to his right, a graceful tune in his ears. The kunoichi. He deftly dodged both of her roundhouse kicks and grabbed her foot. The bones in his entire arm shot out of the flesh and speared her all the way to the knee, exiting through the other end. One of his ribs pierced her chest.

Sakura screamed. And screamed, blood pouring from her various wounds. Her knee, she knew, was damaged forever. She fell to the ground, her foot still gripped by the ex-Sound ninja. Blood trickled out of her mouth, and her back arched in pain when she exploded. "Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu."

Kimimaro's eyes widened as he opened them, but his bones came out, forming an unbreakable defense around him. The sonic blast, though, had damaged his ears. It probably was not part of the kunoichi's plan, but it still worked. Muffled chimes were heard on his right. His eyes flared as the dark-haired shinobi managed to land a punch to him unscathed. But at the next kick to his knee to bring him down on his knees, Kimimaro leapt over the swiping leg and landed behind Sasuke. Grabbed his head, and twisted it sharply.

Crack. "Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu!" This time, Kimimaro was ready. In addition to the bone shield in front of him, parts of his skull encased his ears.

Kimimaro stood lividly, massaging his ears with chakra that might heal his hearing. He heard three chimes playing, the tune was indistinguishable, but he still heard them. Taking off towards those three scroundrels, he bypassed two of his targets.

Sasuke and Sakura crouched unmoving in the trees. Until Kimimaro was far from their sight, Sakura talked. "At the speed that we were moving, he couldn't have dodged that with his eyes closed unless he had good hearing. Not Zabuzza's, but as in the Sound Village's hearing technique. They read your movements using the sounds that your body gives out."

"And the bone techniques he was using, regenerating his body so quickly and maneuovering his skeletal structure fluently, that should be an advanced bloodlimit. Plus, his taijutsu is almost flawless. Almost. I think my clone managed to hit him only because of the shock of your clone's blast," Sasuke said.

Both of them had already analysed this, but they talked for the sake of Naruto, who hadn't seen the battle.

"Thanks," came the reply. "Here he comes. Over and out."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over and out. That was what Naruto was when ten bullets suddenly popped out of Kimimaro's fingers straight at him and his clones. When he leapt above the bullets, Kimimaro was in his face, his hand clenched over his neck. He laid one kick, then another, and spun Naruto away. Naruto arced over a branch and hit a tree. Out. Cold.

The Naruto clones disguised as Sasuke and Sakura hardly stood up to the test. With no incentive to keep them alive, Kimimaro pulled out two rib bones and plunged them into their chests.

Sakura and Sasuke sighed as they dropped to the ground, ten feet away from the gray-haired shinobi. Nothing had been gleaned from the very short battle. Sakura bit her lip. Without Naruto's chakra, the plan would be compromised. Someone else would have to take the fall, since there wasn't any clone to spare.

"I'll do it."

"Wha-what?" Sasuke asked. Glancing over her, then looking straight at her. Straight into her determined green eyes. He knew Itachi had trained her, but to change her this much… He nodded. He was faster and more skilled. Furthermore he had the Sharingan. He would have the better chance of fighting Kimimaro.

Alone. He shivered. _Alone, and so is the person you regarded as a younger brother. He's facing the nightmare he's never wanted. He's giving himself up because Naruto is the Kyuubi jinchuukri… _

_NO!_

Sakura observed Sasuke as his eyes suddenly flared red and his fists clenched for a second. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Sasuke, this is it. For Naruto."

He looked at her, his Sharingan pin wheels still spinning. "For Naruto."

Sakura turned away and threw five shuriken, baseball style, at Kimimaro. Her hands quickly formed handseals. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!"

Kimimaro crouched low to allow the shurikens to pass him, then shot forward. He delivered a sharp uppercut through the girl's jaw, feeling the bone snap. Sasuke appeared behind Sakura and plunged his Uchiha broad knife through her into Kimimaro. He leant back and flipped over gracefully, taking in the clone's death Sasuke's hands were already in motion when Sakura disappeared into a wisp of smoke. "Katon! Gokakyuu no Jutsu!"

Sakura appeared behind Sasuke, and using the cover of his fireball, she whispered, "Doton. Dochu Eigyo no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique)". After Sakura had slid into the ground, Sasuke took a couple of steps back. Then Kimimaro appeared in front of him. His entire right arm had turned into a huge spear of bone. "Doton! Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu! (Inner Decapitation Technique)"

Kimimaro's eyes widened as his legs were suddenly grabbed and he was pulled downwards towards the earth. _Stupid being! _He thought maliciously as he caused the bones in his foot to jut out. Underground, Sakura gasped in pain and let go of Kimimaro's ankles, who looked up and blocked Sasuke's right hook with his left arm. Flipping his hand over, he caught Sasuke's retreating hand and thrust his armoured right arm forward. Using Kimimaro's left hand as leverage, Sasuke hung on and twisted upwards to avoid the large spearhead. Stepping on it, Sasuke thrust his left fist forward.

Then Kimimaro's chest erupted into a field of sharp ribs.

Sasuke twisted away fast and retreated quickly, but Kimimaro still hand his hand clasped around his right.

"Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Sasuke, stood, perched on the tree, watching one of his favourite jutsus bust Kimimaro. Or rather, his clone. Sakura appeared from the ground, her hands ripped bloody. "What was that?"

"Skeletal Clone," Kimimaro replied shortly. These two Chuunins were proving a pretty good fight, he decided. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

Sakura watched with fascinated horror as the S-class criminal's shoulder broke open and a bone inched outwards. Kimimaro reached out and unsheathed the bone. Sakura asked, "A sword made of bone?"

"This is no ordinary bone. It is the strongest material, courtesy of my clan, the Kaguyas. My advanced bloodlimit is the manipulation of extremely hard bone, which can pierce or defend against anything," Kimimaro explained. He looked up at Sasuke. "If you come one by one, you will not be able to defeat me."

He shimmered out of sight. Sakura looked around.

But Sasuke knew where he was. He was standing in front of him, fingers clamping the back of his neck, his other hand extended, the sword pointed directly at him._ This speed… it's faster than Kakashi's. _

Sasuke turned his head, his dojutsu locked in on Kimimaro's cold eyes. Eyes which were serious enough to kill him without hestitation. Kimimaro glared back, then recoiled in shock. The Konoha ninja's transformation was released. This was actually Orochimaru! The man often associated with snakes drawled, "Kimimaro, I never thought you would have betrayed me."

Kimimaro tore his eyes away from "Orochimaru"'s eyes and leapt away. Genjutsu. He clapsed his hands together. "Kai!"

Sakura flashed through handseals. "Katon! Housenka no Jutsu!"

Kimimaro dodged them, but made his way forward at the same time. That was a low trick that only fueled his desire to kill of them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Itachi shoved his hands into his pockets. "So, what made Shisui think that you would be able to defeat me?"

"I thought so," Kamui replied. "We are partners, contrary to what you seem to be thinking. I've read your stats, it isn't much for a so called genius who's already seventeen."

Itachi blinked. "How did the Akatsuki obtain such detailed information?"

"I don't have an obligation to answer you."

"Fine, then, what's your name?"

"Kamui."

"Your answers are short," Itachi said. "As limited as your character."

Kamui didn't respond to the taunt. Instead, his eyes flashed gold under the bright sunlight. Gold.

Itachi blinked as he dodged Kamui, then he pedalled backwards. "Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

Kamui blinked the fire type jutsu away with a jet of water. Itachi frowned. He had read that movement of doing the water typed jutsu, but when Kamui had ran towards him, nothing had registered on his Sharingan. Kamui turned towards him, his eyes flashed purple, and his Poison Fog Technique engulfed Itachi in violet clouds. Itachi leapt out of the cloud, but Kamui tackled him in the air. Itachi felt his body go numb once Kamui made contact with his skin. His eyes were still purple.

_But they were black, no, gold just now? Gold? Purple? _Itachi lashed out, drilling two fingers into Kamui's elbow. Kamui gasped and released Itachi immediately. Itachi roundhoused Kamui for the ground, then flipped over to deliver a powerhouse punch. "Shi Shi Ren-!"

Kamui's eyes flashed white. "Air Pressure Technique!"

The jutsu caught Itachi full in the chest and blasted him away. Kamui landed smoothly, standing. He raised a hand. "Wind Cutter no Jutsu!"

Slashing wind burst forward in full power. Itachi performed some handseals and inhaled a full chest of air. When he exhaled, a wide stream of flames, the shape of a dragon, excaped his mouth. "Katon! Karyuu Endan! (Fire Dragon Blast)"

The dragon swallowed the gusts of cutting air and dashed forward even faster, and more powerful than before.

Kamui frowned and his eyes flashed navy blue. "Suiton! Suikoudan no Jutsu! (Water Shark Blast technique)!"

A monstrous shark of water surrounded Kamui for a moment, defending him from the Fire dragon, then it burst forward for Itachi, who twisted away, landed on a nearby branch, then leapt away quickly.

Itachi waited on the branch to catch his breath. Within seconds, his opponent had performed many powerful techniques, but he had only done one and he could feel its toil on him. How much chakra had the man leeched from in within that one second? And his talent, he seemed to be able to do any type of technique: Water, Fire, Earth, Air , Lightning techniques skillfully to their maximum, which was unheard of.

And his Sharingan had not been able to read the sudden fast movements of Kamui. It hit him like a tsunami. "Advanced Bloodlimit?"

"Yes," Kamui replied. "It is a weak bloodlimit unless you see the advantage and have the talent to utilise it to its maximum potential." Thanks to Kazama. "The ability to use any type of technique, though unable to copy them. And once you achieve a certain amount of chakra, it goes to the next level. I won't bother to tell you."

Itachi shut his eyes. This opponent was too powerful to conserve chakra. He opened his eyes. His Sharingans changed into the Mangekyou Sharingan. "Tsukiyomi."

Kamui sighede uncharacteristacally. "The one time I try to take a leaf out of Shisui's book and create suspense, you dispense it, Uchiha Itachi."

Itachi reverted his Mangekyou Sharingan to the normal Level-Three immediately._ This guy… he has the ability to nullify the effects of my Sharingan!_

"Rather, all advanced bloodlimits, Uchiha. Though, it takes a large amount of chakra out of me. Thanks to you, I can do it longer," Kamui finished for him and flexed his fingers. The chakra he had absorbed from Itachi was an amount not to be trifled with.

Itachi deactivated his Sharingans. "No wonder you were so confident, Kamui. Your advanced bloodlimit is indeed terrifying. But, you have forgotten one thing. Now I how your advanced bloodlimit works, and I've seen it in action."

His opponent frowned.

Itachi alighted his place on the branch. _All advanced bloodlimits have a weakness. I just need to know where to look._

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto came to his senses slowly. The darkness lifted above him like someone had wiped a window no one had wiped in centuries. His head felt as if someone had busted his crotch. Scratch that. Busted his marshmallows ten times over. He pulled out a soldier pill into his mouth, feeling the calming effects immediately. Then he stood up and groaned. "Itachi-sensei musta kicked me sweets. Oh yeah." And he dodged back behind the bush, as if remembering that he was in a middle of a battle, which he was.

Sasuke felt his eye twitch as Naruto's head loomed above the bush and snapped back in about twenty times._ Surely that idiot has a plan by now. Come on, Sakura! Make an opening for Naruto to attack!_

"Sasuke, I have a pla…"

"Naruto, don't speak. Kimimaro has inane hearing abilities and he can pick up our conversation through my comlink," Sakura said. Her chakra was wearing out quickly, her movements were slower. Even though she had tried to use middle distance attacks as much as possible, Kimimaro was closing that gap. If she was in the range of his taijutsu, it would be over and Sasuke and Naruto would only have that amount of information.

"Tajyuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Henge no Jutsu!"

Kimimaro and Sakura stopped to look around. Seconds later, about five thousand Sakuras had surrounded Kimimaro in a tight circle, and the real Sakura had mingled with the clones. In the crowd, Kimimaro lost sight of her.

"Kai!" The Sakuras returned to Naruto's form.

"You."

"Will."

"Pay."

"For."

"This!" One of the Narutos ended sinisterly, a feral grin plastered on his face.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This will copy all the memories of this fight onto you, Naruto. Delicate Mind Imprint Technique!" Sakura placed a finger on Naruto's temple. His cerulean eyes turned emerald for a moment, then reverted back to its original colour. "Wow."

"Huh," Sasuke said behind them. He crouched low and looked at Sakura. "Take a soldier pill. So far, we have thirty percent of his fighting style and his advanced bloodlimit. I'm sure there's more but this is the limit. I can't expect more at our level."

Sakura noted that Sasuke had said "our" instead of "you", and she smiled at his kindness.

"I'm not being kind," Sasuke said, reading her thoughts. "We did this as a team. Whatever we contribute is attributed to the team. Naruto, your clones are draining out faster than I hoped, but it's enough to bring his chakra to his reserves, which is thirty percent for the average A-class ninja."

"That's not A-class. That's S."

"I know, but there's no stats for the S, Naruto. Iruka's lessons. Weren't you listening?" Sakura said, a mischievious smile on her pale face.

"You're injured!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura sighed. Her body was sporting various cuts and bruises and her head and hands were pouring blood. She had_ hoped _that Naruto would've noticed._ No such luck._

"Henge!" Sasuke whispered fiercely and replicated Naruto's features to every detail. "Sucks to be you."

"Hey!" Naruto shook his fists and joined the fight. Sasuke shoved his way to the point of the crowd as close as he could to the rampant Kimimaro. "Chidori Nagashi!"

The Naruto's around him exploded into smoke, but a very small number since he had concentrated the energy to Kimimaro. The gruesome figure with various skeletal organs seperated from his body froze. Knowing that a powerful figure like Kimimaro, especially with his unique physical and mental make-up, Sasuke retreated from the "Narutos" to Naruto.

"Tajyuu!"

"U!"

"zu!"

"ma!"

"ki!"

"Rendan!"

"Sawarabi no Mai! (Dance of the Seedling Fern)"

Naruto froze in horror for two seconds. First, because Kimimaro was hardly scratched, instead, he had become gray-skinned, with his bones sticking out even more monstrously like a dinosaur mutant. His armour of bone had cracked under the weight of four hundred Narutos, but they were slowly repairing, bone cells regenerating. Kimimaro glared directly at Sasuke and Naruto, as if he knew that they were the originals. Then the earth suddenly erupted into dozens of sharp bones two metres long faster than he could think, Kimimaro the starting point.

Then he moved away, metres back while trees and Narutos were speared and brought down by the bones. Naruto finally landed on a large boulder. He felt it crack under the many bones, but it held. He even felt elevated by a foot or so. Sakura's memories were not exaggerated. His bones were strong. A second later, Sasuke landed on the boulder, Sakura on his back.

Naruto tried to see, but the new forest blocked his view. "Where is he?"

Sasuke put an ear to the ground. "Dunno."

_Dammit! First he becomes a freaky T-Rex and now he does it! Backyard of bones! Ha. Ha. I'm so impressed_, Naruto tried to calm his overwhelming fear._ These bones come from him, so they are him. Shikamaru's bloodlimit allows him to become him. Wow. I'm making a conclusion here! So, Shikamaru can come in and out of his shadow… Oh._

"Sasuke! He's in these bones!" Naruto screamed.

Sasuke lay Sakura on the centre of the boulder quickly and both of them stood around her protectively. Naruto stood on full alert, Sasuke's Fuuma Shuriken in his hand, since it was the sharpest weapon they had. The sound of a thousand birds filled the air, and Naruto felt the power of the jutsu tickle the nape of his neck.

It was all well, but both shinobis had conveniently forgotten the weak point of their defense, and their disadvantage of speed. Kimimaro's attack wasn't from north, south, east, or west. Not from above either.

The rock blew up beneath their feet, and the three ninjas were rendered helpless in the air with no momentum to evade any attack. Kimimaro reached out of one bone splint, his backbone a whip cord.

He swung his whip forward, and the end coiled around Sakura's ankle. It immediately crushed her bones to smithereens. A scream forced her lips apart.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' Naruto and Sasuke shouted simultaneously. Using their clones as a jumping board, Naruto went for Kimimaro, while Sasuke thrust his Chidori forward. For a moment, the bone almost put up a resistence. Save for the fact that no bone can be stronger than lightning, and Sasuke sliced the whipcord cleanly. He took Sakura in one arm made another clone. "Kawarimi no Jutsu!"

While his clone became a large piece of the broken boulder for Sakura to rest on her good leg, Sasuke made another clone which threw him towards Kimimaro.

Meanwhile, Naruto concentrated chakra to his hands to suction them to a bone. Then he forced Kimimaro's arms apart. Replacing himself with an explodable clone, which actually bled and was the closest to the real person, Naruto winced as his clone's legs were punctured by various bones.

With Kimimaro defenseless and his legs in the bones, Sasuke headed straight for the heart, Chidori first. Suddenly, Kimimaro brought his legs out, and although he was imbalanced, he still moved quickly. His nails had lengthened into scythes which ripped through Naruto's rectal area in the process of bringing them upwards Sasuke's chest, evading his Chidori since his hand had already passed them.

_Damn, _Sasuke thought and brought his Chidori downwards, only slicing the scythe-like nails. Kimimaro's legs connected him at point-blank, full force. Sasuke felt blood pile into his mouth before he felt the pain. Sasuke flew back to where he came from, which was Sakura, who managed to catch him without falling off the broken rock.

Naruto hestitated a moment. He had heard Sasuke's ribs crack, something weird break, then Sasuke's strangled cough. Luckily he was a clone. "Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jut…"

Kimimaro hurled this Naruto by the collar off some field. When it exploded, the bones were hardly scratched. Kimimaro got to the real Naruto with his whip.

Naruto turned around to leap from the rock he was standing on, then the whip scratched his back. Or, lodged into his skin by the whole thick chunk and ripped off the skin. Naruto yelled. He felt like he was being broiled alive. Kimimaro moved through the bones immediately and reached him in a second. And speared his abdominal area with his whip turned sword again.

Kimimaro's cold eyes warmth with success, then it was gone, and his unwavering killing intent was back. He impaled Naruto upon the bones sticking from the ground._ One member down. I've achieved what I wanted_, he decided. Kimimaro waved a hand, palm downwards, on the space around him, and the Dance of the Seedling Fern retracted to the ground.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted, but his teammate was unmoving. Already blood was pooling thickly from the various puncture wounds. He let Sakura slide to the ground. The kunoichi had been rendered unconcious by the pain. Sasuke picked his reserve Fuuma Shuriken. It was the one that he had used with Zabuzza when he had not been as skilled, but it was definitely as lethal if he knew how to push it.

"I can see you with my Sharingan, Kimimaro. Before, your chakra was boiling over your entire form. Now its even sinking into your body," Sasuke taunted. Offensive tactics courtesy from Itachi. It bought you time and your opponent might waver with anger._ All of his tactics are close ranged, his most common is just his normal advanced bloodlimit technique where he controls the bones in his body to shoot out at close range or just from his body. Or there's his fingernail projectile technique. His middle ranged techniques is his backbone whipcord and the Dance of the Seedling Fern. No long ranged, attacks. If not he would have rid of us easily. He would have the same level as Kotetsu-san now. Not an Akatsuki level ninja anymore_, Sasuke mused. _Naruto's move for five hundred clones had served its purpose._

Kimimaro stared down the Third-Level Sharingan, wondering what the youngest Uchiha was thinking. Not as arrogant and cool as Shisui, but less powerful. Still, prodigious Uchiha, talent spotted by Orochimaru.

Plan at the ready, Sasuke dashed forward. Ten feet from his opponent he hurled the Fuuma Shuriken. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu."

A copy of the Shadow Windmill appeared beneath and arced out to cut Kimimaro from its twin's opposite direction. Kimimaro stared harder at the Shadow Windmills surrounding him, holding his bone sword out defensively._ Wire…?_

"Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!" The dragon travelled along the two lines, and as it was faster than the large throwing stars, overshot and collided into Kimimaro.

Sasuke turned away from the pile of sand, smiling inwardly. "Tsuuchi Bunshin? (Earth Clone)" He faked shout, knowing that it was realistic even with Kimimaro's inane hearing.

"Too late!" Kimimaro hissed brutally behind Sasuke, sword raised. Sasuke's eyes were hooded since he was looking downwards, but his glowing Sharingan eyes expressed victory.

"Chidori Nagashi!"

The chakra current froze his physical functions, and Kimimaro froze in his position, unable to utilise his chakra or nerves, feeling as if a Hyuuga had hit him with the Sixty-four Hands of Hakke.

Sasuke spun around immediately, the Fuuma Shuriken back in his hand. The sharp blade ran with his Chidori Current and sliced through Kimimaro's neck. The head swiped off cleanly. Reaching out, Sasuke snatched a fistful of Kimimaro's hair, stained with blood that was pooling from the neck like a fountain that relieved his face from the heat of the sun. Licking the fresh blood, Sasuke threw the head to the ground and pinned it with a kunai. Then he used the tip of his closed Shadow Windmill to dig out Kimimaro's frozen heart. Sasuke sheathed his weapon and stared at the heart.

Kimimaro was officially dead.

Sasuke raised his hands into a cupped shape and blew. The faint call of scavenger birds rang throughout the village. Sasuke held Kimimaro's head and heart in front of his decapitated body. "This should be enough for Hokage-sama."

Sasuke ran to Naruto's body. True to his guess, he was up, albeit panting heavily. Naruto grinned ferally at his teammate, his eyes bleached crimson and his whisker marks deepened. "I might have killed you if Kyuubi took over me, so I had to force him back down. Nice to know you avenged me, avenger."

"Whatever, Barbie."

"What was that? Say that again!" Naruto challenged. Then he grinned. "You killed him. The plan worked."

"All because of our efforts. Teamwork," Sasuke said, extending a hand. Naruto took it gratefully and Sasuke pulled Naruto's arm around his shoulder. The a jolt of pain brought blood and bile to his mouth. Sasuke dropped to the ground, his ribs burning. When Naruto landed on him, he couldn't move.

Naruto scrambled off Sasuke. "Sasuke! Are you okay?"

"I think… Kimimaro… kicked," Sasuke managed to get out before he fainted.

Putting it to pain and chakra loss, Naruto tiredly dragged Sasuke to Sakura's body. He sat on the ground and drew a kunai. The small dagger felt heavy in his hands._ A fat lot of help it will do…_

…_Ramen_, was Naruto's last thought as he slumped into slumber.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Itachi alighted his place on the branch. _All advanced bloodlimits have a weakness. I just need to know where to look._

Kamui contemplated his next moves. He had revealed too much to the Uchiha within such a short time, but he had a feeling even if he hadn't the genius would have concluded such in any case. Except, now he had gotten Itachi thinking. It was time to put himself into pace too. He had, without a doubt, that Uchiha Itachi would fight just as well, if a little impaired, without the Sharingan. Their speed was the same too, so he had no advantage on that.

His Level Two advanced bloodlimit would drain him within ten minutes, which was usually enough, but now against such an opponent, it would be different. The moment he released his bloodlimit, Itachi would utilise his Mangekyou Sharingan. He had only just realised._ I'm in a pretty precarious situation myself._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Well, a pretty good chapter, a balance between fight scenes and thoughts, which is an accomplishment, yes? This chapter was hard to start. I decided to, instead of doing my usual all fights at the same length, break them apart to concentrate more.

So first up was the Kimimaro/ Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke fight. Information gathering and opponent weakening before going in for the kill would be more tactical than going in with the flow, attacking as one all the way and hope to live. In the end, no one but their opponent died. Success.

Well, all the fights happen at the same time, so don't get confused.

School will start soon, and I'm half confused. Does my writing style get boring over the next few chapters? How can I improve? I really want to know, thanks!

Happy New Year! And please review!


	19. Chapter Eighteen My Weakness

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

School's started and I've already been piled with homework and essays. As a result, I've got this update late. School is top priority now, so until I settle into the new year, my updates will take time. Thank you for reading up to this chapter! No, it's not the end of the story, just wanted to say thank you. And for the reviews. This is dedicated to my reviewers. Read the bottom A/N to know why I'm typing so weirdly in this chapter…

**Lol: **Thanks for the review. After I read it, I changed my summary to NO SLASH, because it's not a Kimi/Oro or Haku/Zabuzza relationship sort of thing. As for the integration of two bloodlimits, Rukawa can't do the Mangekyou. And he's not exactly a Mary Sue. For example, Kakashi. His clan doesn't have a special bloodlimit, other than his father's reputation as the White Fang. In other words, Rukawa isn't all powerful. I don't do those things. Sorry that it didn't come across that way, but read on, maybe your perception will change. The story changed quite a lot, anyways.

**Sn1ck3rD00dl3: **Spent lots of time after my first reply thinking… Depends on how I shape my chapters. Probably six to ten to go, if I go mad, fourteen. If there are more suggestions, I would come up with more arcs for the final thing, so there'd be more chapters.

**Aknut, Zoey24, thanks! **And thanks to the readers who have read up to this chapter!

Warning: Mild language at one part of the chapter. Rest is to your imagination.

**Chapter Eighteen- My Weakness**

I am running. I am running but this body can't catch up. I am tiring quickly, a part of me wishing that I can just run away and never turn back again. Four years ago I would never have faced this dilemna, the back of my mind taunts, so I have to reach deep into my wasted soul and see my memories, to remind myself of why I've left.

But I am tired.

I detest this life of aliases and tricks. The name 'Kazuhiko Rukawa'. I know that it is my cover. The cover that hides the 'me' within this body. Why should I run from who I am? What is it about me that I fear so much?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once upon a time, I, Uchiha Shisui, was leading. I had everything planned. Every single detail in consideration. Or so I had thought. The softness of a human soul deceived me. I had immersed myself in carving, creating, forcing out an intelligent, emotionless assasin that would bend to only my will. I had been too arrogant, thought too highly of my mind.

I hate him for constantly reminding me of my mistake. And for betraying me.

I hate him. After I satisfy myself of him, I will not hate him. After all, I fear not what he does.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kazuya stopped. His head protector clung to his forehead, unscratched, unlike his former master's forehead protector. He didn't understand why he was panting so hard, sweating so profusely, and why his mind was blank. He ripped his forehead protector off and chucked it into the ground.

Shisui raised an eyebrow calmly. He was hardly sweating. "It's too heavy for you?"

Kazuya didn't answer. He hadn't even processed the question. He mumbled something. Shisui heard it. "You hate me? Or yourself? Who do you really hate?"

Once again his former subordinate was silent. His fists were clenched, shaking with fear or anger, or anticipation. His breathing was still erratic.

Shisui took in all of this and repeated loudly, "You hate me? Or yourself? Who do you really hate?"

His mind felt as if it was unplugged, and all the foreign sounds entered his mind. Kazuya looked up. "I hate you."

"Finally," Shisui said. "You've gotten over your zombie thing."

"Screw you," Kazuya replied, his fists unclenched. He stamped on his Konoha head protector and screwed it into the mud, in the process of this distraction tactic flashing through handseals._ Doton! Dogadan! (Earth Fang Bullet, similar to Water Fang Bullet)"_

The Uchiha's Sharingan flared as he brought up the Water Encampment Wall as his defense._ Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!_

The beam of fire speared through the powerful water-type defense easily. Kazuya leapt out of the way and released two kunai at the closing hole of the Water Encampment Wall. The kunais made it through and hit it's mark. The clone disappeared in a poof. Kazuya scanned around him, then above. _Tsutenkyaku (Painful Sky Leg)_, he recognised Shisui's taijutsu technique. "Doton. Dochu Eigyo no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique, in this case used as a form of escape.)"

With the jutsu, Kazuya slipped into the ground just as Shisui's heel slammed into the earth, rippling out a crater of destruction. Kazuya moved through the underground, up a tree, then leaked out of the high oak behind Shisui. Kazuya threw a punch that connected, then climbed out of the oak entirely, swiping Shisui's feet from under him then directing a mule kick at Shisui's face.

The older man disappeared, a smoke bomb covering his escape.

Kazuya escaped from the blurring slope. When he opened his eyes, ten projectiles were already spinning towards him. In one fluid motion, Kazuya drew his Fuuma Shuriken, flipped the blades out, and deflected the projectiles into the surrounding dirt.

Shisui's face was in his, hand raised threateningly. Suddenly he backhanded Kazuya's wrist, forcing the infamous Uchiha weapon out of the boy's grip. After that he pulled Kazuya forward, his knee connecting solidly. Kazuya doubled over, the air escaping his lips.

A mule kick. Kazuya shot through the air. When he turned his head, he saw Shisui's handseals. He did his own. "Kawariimi no Jutsu!"

Shisui's fist connected with a bit of wood. Irked, he landed on the ground, chanelling chakra to all of his senses. There were many forests sounds, but he tuned them all out to one foreign noise.

In seconds he was behind Kazuya, licking his lips as he approached the prey, attempting to catch him unawares.

Alas, he wasn't able to resist. "Behind you."

Kazuya spun around.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A woman would have thought very poorly of the two men brawling graciously in the ring of wires and exploding tags, a mere five metre space. The thing is, there's no woman, so they connected manly with kicks and punches that could kill. A peaceful confrontation.

So peaceful that when Kamui easily dodged the Konoha Ultimate Whirlwind and dealt his own swift backhand and another elbow into the small of Itachi's back, Itachi hardly blocked neither. He caught Itachi's turning head with a swift roundhouse punch. Then a knee to his gut, driving the air out of his lungs. Before Itachi could regain his composure, Kamui stabbed Itachi in the right shoulder.

_Dancing in the moonlight…_

_Singing what that is bright…_

_If you leave me I'll die…_

_Please don't let me go…_

Itachi winced from the kunai sticking out of his shoulder. Kamui immediately took matters to his advantage, aiming a powerhouse kick at the but of the kunai to drive it in and through the Uchiha. But this was an Uchiha he was fighting. Itachi raised a typical block, then flipped his hands to catch Kamui's offending ankle and slam the man into the ground.

Itachi raised his leg. _Tsutenkyaku (Painful Sky Leg)_, he mused viciously. His leg slammed into Kamui's face, whose body melted into hot wax and crawled up his leg at an alarming rate. Itachi watched in horror as his flesh dripped away with the wax, unwritten pain scrawled across his face.

Moments later, Itachi comprehended the jutsu. It wasn't ninjutsu, but genjutsu! Activating his chakra in large amounts in different directions as one would a Rasengan, Itachi effectively broke the illusionary technique, to awake to the real world. The approaching katana pierced through his left side. Itachi grunted in pain but exited the japanese sword quickly, he had dodged fatal hits.

His hand gripped the hole in his side, adding pressure to the blood flow, but this only made the blood flow through the other exit.

Itachi fell to one knee and Kamui's katana slashed downwards.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kazuya plummeted into the earth, but he rolled with the impact and found his feet quickly. "Katon! Housenka no Jutsu!"

Heaving to his feet, Kazuya dashed forward, each fireball missing Shisui by centimetres on purpose, forcing Shisui to maneuver into his grasp. "Flash Charge!"

"Chuusuusei Biribiri (Central Nervous System Electrical Shock)!" Shisui slammed into his shoulder with vicious pleasure. With the sudden cut in his influx of chakra, Kazuya felt bile and blood rise out of his mouth. Before he could return an attack though, Shisui backhanded him out of range.

Shisui dropped to his knees. His body was numb, and his speech was slurred, but he still spoke, "You have deproved, become weak. You are weak because they have poisoned your mind with dreams of teamwork and love. Of friendship and companions. You don't stand a chance of beating me."

Kazuya pressed a chakra infused hand into his numb shoulder. A trickle of blood oozed to the ground. He took a moment to answer. "You're right, I've become weak."

Shisui stared at him. This reaction was unexpected.

"Those things make me weak, but I treasure them. There is a point when Naruto says that the need to protect your companions will make you stronger."

Shisui snorted. He waved a dismissive hand. He had regained his sense of balance and movement._ But my brain is overloaded. _"Hmph. That's just words he uses to comfort himself, he derives a sense of false security from this mantra."

"Yes, and no," came the enigmatic answer.

Shisui stood up, his orange hair bowed over his hands. "Enough of your senseless jibberish. You're mind is poisoned, I will change you. Suiton! Five Water Sharks no Jutsu!"

Without another warning, five water models of the Great White sprouted from the deep earth. It blasted the Konoha Chuunin into the air, before the jaws engulfed him and pummelled him into the earth, turned mud by the water.

Shisui heard the Chuunin's screams with satisfication. A limb or two and a couple of ribs fractured. He drew a fan of shuriken and hurled them. The low-damage Chinese stars riddled the other shinobi's back, forcing another gasp of pain.

Victory emminent, the Uchiha traitor took his time in making his way forward.

Kazuya raised his mud-plastered face and strained to heave himself up. His hand clenched over the dirt. A sense of panic stirred within him. Then his hand slipped and he smashed into the wet mud again. Even with the earth seeping into his ears, he could hear Shisui's footsteps… and his own heartbeat.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Itachi unsheathed his katana in one swift arc that caught Kamui's sword in its downward path. In that moment of triumph, Itachi's morale was boosted, and he fought relentlessly.

His every movement, was perfect, with an emminent style but unreadable. Each arc of his long blade was quick and precise. Even with the serious wound in his side, Itachi never slowed, going faster by the second. Gaining more control over the fight by the second. The Uchiha's burning desire for survival had finally come on.

_The spurt should not last long,_ Kamui speculated. At the most, it would be a good five minutes if the battle lasted that long.

Kamui however, had underestimated Itachi. The seventeen year-old was using the most advanced swordplay and combat tactics to maintain his ground. He stretched his creativity to the limit, combining all the moves he knew recklessly but executing them perfectly. He changed the direction of his attacks, the style of his offense and switched defenses constantly, but wherever he went Kamui was there to block at the last possible moment. Itachi's katana was more than just part of him, but Kamui was more than perfect in many other areas.

The worst thing was, the faster he went, the faster his heart pumped blood, which in turn escaped through his gaping wound.

Kamui was losing ground internally._ I'm wearing and my movements are slowing. At this rate I'll be as slow as the Uchiha within thirty seconds. Ninjutsu will be ineffective at such a close range unless I do something. _

An idea crossed his mind. If he could release the wire barrier, Itachi would naturally back out to create a defense of space. Then he would be in range for a ninjutsu attack. A water technique, since it killed the fire of Uchiha jutsus.

Kamui lifted his katana and cut the wires of his barrier, his negative chakra cancelling out the explosive tags.

Itachi lashed out with a side kick, then suctioned his soles to Kamui's blocking forearm, he then jumped backwards, backflipping to gain momentum and minimise energy loss. He breathed a momentary sigh of relief and placed a hand over his sword injury. Positive chakra glowed, knitting flesh and bone. Itachi reached towards a pouch locked onto his belt but scrabbled air.

With blood splattering onto his grimy hands, he saw nothing. The blood-replenishing pills were gone. He surveyed the area, yellow pills were trodded into the earth. Unusable.

Kamui felt a sense of pleasure. "About time you realised, Uchiha."

"Shiiiit," Itachi swore as he fell to the ground, too weak to move, the realisation of the hole finally found time to tell his mind. The pain was exhaustive. "Shiiit…"

_Two pints. Shit… I can't die here. I have to save Rukwa. I can't die here! _

_Shit._

Kamui flipped his katana so that the point faced the ground. He raised the katana over Itachi's heart. Silver eyes met fading black. Fading black with a growing desire. Kamui searched those eyes. He recognised those eyes from somewhere. Recognised that burning desire.

Tucking the katana back into its sheath, Kamui spun on his heels and walked away steadily, never turning back.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beg for mercy, as you breathe in dirt. Helplessly look on as your life flashes past you but you never die. While you breathe in the dirt.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blood broke out from the limp hole beneath his nose as a fist connected with his gut. He snapped back against the tree. He fell forward again, and a heel dug into his jaw. Every time he slumped down the tree, something painful would paste him back into the breaking tree.

Shisui clamped a hand over his neck then threw him into the wet dirt.

He squatted beside the red-stained face. He could hear the boy's thoughts._ Kill me…_

Pitiless and oblivious to the obvious lifelessness in Kazuya, Shisui stood up, nudged the boy so that he was on his back, then placed a firm foot on his rib cage. And exerted pressure on it.

Kazuya coughed, spurts of blood leaking out of his mouth. A stretched creaking sound, then a crack. Kazuya let out an anguised cry and raised his broken arm. _Let go of me…_

Shisui pressed harder, his lips drawing apart into a leer. Then something sliced across his chest, spun in an arc, then retreated.

Sasuke caught his Fuuma Shuriken. "Get. Away. From. Him."

Shisui clutched the flesh wound. It was not deep, but it looked worst than it was. "Kimimaro is dead?"

"Yeah, his neck doesn't have an end," Sasuke worked through the words.

Shisui gathered his bearings quickly. "Kamui-san."

Kamui flashed past Shisui, his katana still bearing the blood of Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke raised his Fuuma Shuriken, the the hilt of Kamui's katana connected with his jaw. Sasuke tumbled backwards dazedly. Then the hilt connected with the nape of his neck, and he fell forwards, his vision seeping into darkness the color of his eyes.

Kamui wiped the blade of his katana on the younger Uchiha's shirt then sheathed it. "The jinchuukri?"

"Do you know where he is?"

"Yes. Three miles north," Kamui replied. He placed a palm on the ground. It trembled slightly. "A group of twenty approaching rapidly four miles. Heading southward. They'll meet the jinchuukri before we do. I suggest we retreat for the moment. Three years, after all, will be more suitable."

Shisui ducked his head. "Very well. I apologise for my tardiness."

Kamui waved his hand. "To no effect. We've gotten rid of Orochimaru's replacement. The Snake's position is free again. Your… can take up that spot."

Shisui looked at Kazuya. "Yeah."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Scout a five mile radius, pick up any survivors and head to Konoha immediately. Inform Jiraiya-sama of re-inforcements," Genma said almost lazily, an Uzumaki, Haruno, a head, and a heart before him.

His subordinates obeyed immediately. Once they had covered five miles, they picked up found people and headed for Konoha, reaching the village a day later.

Jiraiya scratched his head. He loved Sarutobi's office. A hidden chamber behind the bookcase revealed an extensive collection of magazines, books, videos, posters, and comics that would more than contribute to the Toad Hermit's research. The chunky old television was actually equipped with the best compensation and audio systems, and the video quality was so clear, Jiraiya could see what most televisions wouldn't see.

Of course, that was not his current priority, which was deploying fifty percent of Sand troops to the Sound invasion, even though Konoha was only deploying thirty percent. Part of the compensation for the Konoha invasion.

So when Genma reported in after his recon from the Sound, Jiraiya, great fifty-year old Toad Hermit went like this:

"Oh. Seventy percent from Hidden Rock. I don't like them and they're tiny," Jiraiya said. His secretary scribbled furiously. "Tell the Sand that they only need to lend thirty percent."

"Hai, Jiraiya-sama!"

Jiraiya scratched a nonexistent stubble._ Thinking of the Uzumaki kid, the Akatsuki almost got him. The whole team was injured so badly by three Akatsuki, but they left one dead. Orochimaru's favourite, Kimimaro. To think that he turned on Orochimaru. That was unexpected. There's a three year rift before the Akatsuki will come back. I have two years to train up the kid._

_Wonder how's he like?_

"I give you sexy back. The one you know they always…" Jiraiya sung, carassing the small manikin in his hand.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakashi fingered his white bone knife. He couldn't even count the number of innocents and ninjas that he had killed. He laced his fingers behind his head and laid on the boulder, the coppery stench of blood wafting to his nose.

As the clouds rolled past and sunset arrived swiftly, the pink reflecting from the battlefield onto the baby blue sky. Moments later Shikamaru sat joined him. They didn't talk, because the clouds spoke for them.

They enjoyed and remembered the moment. Kakashi remembered Obito. He wondered what Obito would think of him now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke awoke in the six-bed hospital room. The air-conditioning was blowing softly. The vase beside him was devoid of flowers, a new experience. That could be explained away by the Konoha Invasion and his pink-haired teammate lying on the bed beside him. Her cherry pink hair covered her face which betrayed her determination and strength.

Sasuke blinked.

He turned to his right. Naruto was on his other side, his usually enthusiastic face serene. He felt a sense of mourning. Raising his head slightly, he could see the outline of his older brother. His vase was empty too, but a bottle of pain killers was placed on the bedside table.

Sasuke turned back to Sakura. She had a drip running, two packets connected by transparent tubes, one was filled with blood. He wondered what blood type she was. Then again he wondered what were her stats. Their stats. Maybe he could sneak into the archives and steal their reports. What did Itachi write about him?

His mind was wandering, the empty space provided by the sedatives allowing his thoughts to roam across untravelled places. Some things suddenly seemed so interesting. Like his ankle, how was it doing? Should he ask how was it? Sasuke caught himself. What the… was he thinking?

Sasuke snuggled into his fresh pillow. He could settle with sleeping for now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shikamaru twiddled his thumbs. And then he twiddled them again. In the Ninja Academy, all he remembered about Kazuhiko was that he was the new pick off, better than Uchiha Sasuke contrary to school reports, and he wasn't very tall. After that, he didn't know Kazuhiko either, and never had any feelings for the kid.

The thing was, the kid's body was either so dead you couldn't see the parts, or he was captured. God knew ninjas preferred dead to captured. Man, he didn't know how to break the news to Team Seven.

Why had he even been considered for this troublesome task? All he knew about Haruno was that she was an arrogant bimbo over Uchiha Sasuke, who was a cucumber. But that was what he had thought of Ino too, before they were a team. And Uzumaki Naruto. They were good pals, part of the trouble-making gang that added at at least one white hair to every Leaf nin. He and Kazuhiko were supposed to be on good terms. Knowing Naruto, he didn't have the heard to break the news. Fuck the news.

"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," Shikamaru said and reached for the metal handle.

Entering the room was just as bad. The room was colder than outside, as if someone had hit the air-con fifty degrees lower. And gloomy and dark. Like mourning.

And everyone was looking, no, glaring at him.

Shikamaru sighed. Fuck bad news.

"I guess you've come to explain why one of our team is missing?" Uchiha Itachi asked, monotonously. His black eyes looked murderous.

Fuck extremely bad news.

"I… and my cell, Team Ten, personally took time to scour the area. Gai-sensei's team helped too. Even Hyuuga Neji couldn't find him. You know, Byakugan…" Shikamaru paused, expecting some outburst, especially from Naruto. Anything at all, a shout, he would've welcomed it this once.

It never came, so he continued, "We covered at least fifteen miles. Nothing, not even a clue except from where Kazuhiko battled. Gai-sensei evaluated the area, he's probably still alive. That means capture."

Shikamaru paused again. He was expecting Naruto to make some comment like "Of course it's capture!", but no, he just stared ahead.

"Which means that his status is missing-nin. He's already been filed under the hunter-nin's bingo book. If they can prove that he didn't leak any information, they'll bring him back. If not… you should know, Itachi-sensei," Shikamaru rambled, hating his position every second now. He hated bad news. "Er, thank you."

He left, feeling as if he was disturbing the personal space of what remained of Team Seven.

Naruto thought differenty. Actually, he wanted Shikamaru to stay, an imaginary balm. Now that Shikamaru had left, the atmosphere was even more tense. He wanted to tear down the entire world, find Rukawa. But then he might have found a corpse, mutilated beyond recognition other than the autopsy by professionals.

He didn't know what to do. He couldn't even speak.

"I've got to find him," Sasuke said suddenly. "I've got to find him. If I'd been there earlier, or if I had dodged that silver haired bastard, he would be here, with us. It's my fault, and I'll pay the consequences. I'll find him, damn it!"

"Calm down, Sasuke, I know how you feel…" Sakura started.

"Fuck calm down! You don't know how he feels! You don't know what Shisui will do!" Sasuke let out a roar.

"I'm coming with you, Sasuke," Sakura said softly. "I'm ignorant on these things, I suppose, but I know I'm coming."

"So will I, I won't stop until I find him," Naruto said.

Three heads turned to Itachi expectantly.

"No."

Anger piled into Sasuke. He thought his brother would understand! He hadn't expected these other small fukcs to understand, but he…

Sasuke stopped in horror. And he understood, the truth revealed with the pull of curtain's handle. They were in no position to even start a search. A warrant would be rejected, and even if they managed to find the two Akatsukis, which was nigh impossible, they would just return to Konoha by default. Itachi couldn't defeat one of them. He was beaten. The three of them had killed Kimimaro, but he was a fry compared to the others. A pawn. A whole nestful of black cloaked merceneries would swallow them immediately. Shisui's mercy would not be extended then.

If that was considered mercy. But worst of all… he had just regarded his fellow teammates as "small…" He couldn't bear to even think the words anymore. Sasuke slumped into his pillow. The metal sling supporting his ankle creaked.

Seeing that his brother had seen reason, Itachi turned to the other two teammates. They too, seemed to have reached a conclusion worthy of his respect. Then the next step… he, Uchiha Itachi, aged seventeen only, didn't know what to do. Except feel his heart beat so fast it was as if he was about to die. If the Nara was here, he would get the empty bed.

"Shit," Naruto said. "Shit."

"Uzumaki-san!" The door banged open, richoted off the wall and into the face of the caller. A red nosed kid rose from the shadows and called urgently. "Uzumaki-san! Jiraiya-sama seeks your audience immediately."

_Can't you see I'm busy saying "shit" now? _Naruto's inner voice screamed. "Thanks, kid." And he disappeared through the window. Something to take his mind off things. Something to balm the pain in his heart. Beating so fast he was dying.

"Uzumaki Naruto. So, I'm the great toad hermit, Jiraiya, one of the Sannins. I was expecting more," the giant of a man smirked.

Naruto's eyes burned red. "I've had enough thinking I should be something more. Someone enough to save a friend. But I haven't been, just as every other person in this village has told me since day one of my life that's not enough. So, SHUT THE- OUT! JUST SHUT UP! Now, what the- do you want from me, Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya leaned back as far as he could in his chair. Maybe he shouldn't have tried that approach when someone was grieving. Step One of Icha Icha Paradise: Make your target comfortable with a good impression of you. Example: Pull a chair for the girl in mind.

Obviously, there would be no chair-pulling for little boys lest it seemed pedophilic, so Jiraiya motioned with a hand. "Sit, please." Completely bypassing an apology.

Naruto slumped into the chair and raised his piercing blue eyes defiantly. _What the hell does this wacko want from me… I don't have time for this. For any of this. I should be thinking of a plan to get… Focus. Don't think about it. Later. Everything comes later. He can come later..._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kazuya wondered what they were thinking now. Anyone of them. Itachi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. A part of him wanted them to never find him and never to be found, completely safe.

Most of him wanted him to be found. After they'd rescued him and pay their lives for it, he would skip to a foreign place and live free. Live free.

Kazuya shook his head, then remembered that his eyes were closed. He opened them and blinked. This feeling… He was drugged. Weak. He couldn't feel his chakra. Or his strength. Yes, he wanted to get out of this place. To hell if it costed the lot of them.

It was the drugs. _Don't think about it. It's the drugs. _He repeated to himself over and over.

"You're awake," Shisui commented. "It's not drugs. You only don't want to feel your chakra. Itachi and the others won't come for you. They landed you here. They won't compromise their position. Naruto won't rescue his benefactor."

_Don't listen to him. Don't listen to him. It's the drugs. You're not believing that._

"Oh? You will listen to me. You're doing that right now. You will believe this, at the end of it all."

Kazuya opened his eyes. They didn't register anything._ You can hear my thoughts?_

"Yes, you're saying them aloud, even if you don't want to. I'll hear every thing you say and let you hear yourself. Even when you're begging for fcuking mercy I'll hear your mind scream so loud the whole world will hear you but them. They won't hear you, they won't save you."

_It's only psychology torture. Only to mess up my mind. It isn't true. Don't believe that. Only his ramblings. Only psychology torture. Not the truth. Anything but the truth!_

Shisui leered as the boy unconsciously repeated his thoughts. The drugs were working. As were the blindfolds. Fear induced fear. Darkness induced fear. Ignorance and knowledge induced fear.

"It's the truth. You are only rejecting it because it is the truth." Shisui wrapped a smooth hand around the boy's neck menacingly. A ripple of fear.

_It's not the truth. It's not the truth. It's not the truth._

"My, my. I haven't really started but you're already regretting your decision. Companions and friendship don't bring strength after all, right. Hear the lies of Naruto's words. You should have listened to your own."

_It's not the truth. It's not the truth. Not… not… not… not… not… not… not…_

Shisui ignored Kazuya's mutterings and raised the long cord of leather.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

True, my shortest chapter yet, but it was satisfying. My mind's a blank with so I'm not sure what I'm writing in this A/N. I experimented with a change of style. How was it? Aah… I'm dizzy with sleepiness ever since this morn and I still have a math worksheet. I might even update this chapter.

The later part of the chapter was an addition. Had a clearer head but not much since homework's piled higher than I've ever seen it. The difference Team Seven and Rukawa's situation may seem a bit odd, but it's all for contrast. And the use of the word that I've been avoiding had to come out. If not there wouldn't be the atmosphere. Rest assured unless it's an emergency, no more "word".

Please review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know if my experiment was successful (Just before Shika entered)!


	20. Chapter Nineteen Application

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading!

**Chapter Nineteen: Application**

A week passed. It had been a long one hundred and sixty hours of being in the same space. It wasn't before long when the rookie Chuunins started counting the number of times he or she was visited by the medics, deciding who was the weakest. Who was the one that let Rukawa go. With Naruto being the jinchuukri and Sasuke an Uchiha, Sakura was singled out.

For a few hours they treated her with hostility, then both of them remembered her contribution to Kimimaro's defeat, and they lay back, brooding.

Naruto felt empty. He felt no warmth from his teammates, zero sense of belonging. Rukawa had always been there for him, acknowledging him, eating ramen with him no matter how long the day. He wanted to cry, to pump out the nasty feeling chewing him out, but tears wouldn't come. He could not scream, he could not cry, so he would not speak.

Sakura spent the hours reliving her battle. Now that she thought of it, there seemed to be a hundred other battle plans, but she had to pick the worst. If only she had stopped this, or done that, the whole chess board would be turned. And she could see the others, the hurt and grief, only to wish that she had forged a bond with the boy as much as they had. If only if she'd seen the light sooner….

Sasuke decided to take it all in with a mask on his face, endeavouring to keep the mask at hostile coldness. He wanted to leave this room without Rukawa, he wanted to out and train until he could reach Rukawa, he needed the little brother he had found. A mixture of emotions were bottled within him: guilt, resentment, hate, incomprehension, and a lot more. He couldn't understand how a person was allowed to feel of this, so he repeated to himself: _I am a shinobi. _

His older brother had not spoken since Shikamaru had left.

But of course, time does not wait for the beholder, and a week later, Team Seven was discharged, fully recovered. Their relationship was strained, almost non-existent, covered by a blindfold. Itachi wanted to piece it all back, but without a catalyst, nothing could be done.

Four hours later in succession, all three subordinates approached him. Requesting to be relieved of their ninja duties.

"Are you running away?" Itachi asked calmly.

His question stung, but they did not wince. "No. I understand that Konoha is in dire times, especially with the war at Ricefield Country and the Konoha Invasion. But with the Sand and Rock at our command, everything should be settled. I am not leaving my profession for good, but I feel the need to queiten and to train. I promise you, in five months I will be ready. Itachi-sensei, please do not decline."

With the maturity and reason of their answer, how could he react? Why would the village expect him to react? He filed their leave quickly, then approached Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya-sama, I officially had in my resignation from mentorship duties as a Jounin and wish to return to my ANBU status," Itachi said and bowed deeply.

The Sannin eyed the bowed back contemplatively. He started, "You should be aware that I approached your subordinate Uzumaki Naruto…"

"I was fully aware of that, as I am aware that he declined your offer. I understand with the Akatsuki after him in three years, you would be pressed to train him. Unfortunately, I feel, and so does he, that self-discovery and working with his team is the wisest course."

Jiraiya sighed. He saw the light of both shinobi's reasoning, but for the same reason he had hoped that Itachi would order Naruto to become his apprentice. He slid the papers Itachi had given to him and stamped all of them. "Granted."

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama!" Itachi took the papers and left. That evening, he hung his green, standard-issue vest in his wardrobe and withdrew his ANBU gear. _So, I have returned to this life. _

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke tapped his alarm clock on the first ring. He bandaged his ankle tightly and slipped on gloves. Then he refered to wrist, and ankle weights. He stared longingly at the photograph of the_ real _Team Seven.

_Rukawa, I promise I'll rescue you. I won't let you go. _

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kamui had accepted Shisui's proposal immediately. As the Uchiha's partner, he had an obligation to strengthen their bonds. And so, he now sat on the foldable metal chair, staring contemplatively at the unbound mess on the floor. Indeed, mess. It had only been a hundred and sixty hours of constant torture, but already the boy had seen death two times and been brought out of it with medical jutsu.

There were claw-toothed pokers nestling on hot ambers, cords made up of bone, leather, or with metal tips, clubs of different moulds, and other devices. Normally, Akatsuki operatives used more violent methods that would force answers within hours: sawing off limbs, screwing in nails. But their objective here was to make an Akatsuki out of the… mess. There would be no long-lasting deformation.

Kamui picked up a glowing poker and started forward. The leg was bent out of shape, but with a sharp twist, it fell straight.

Rukawa gasped, then screamed, his throat parched and torn, his breaths coming down raggedly. Then, just as a chef would, Kamui forced the sharp poker between the knee cap and another bone. Rukawa inhaled, then screamed again.

Kamui wrenched out the poker, a trail of thick blood leaking behind. Without emotion, he pulled the boy up, then forced the bloodied head into the icy water. Rukawa struggled intently, the oxygen wasting away. His disabled knee screamed in protest with each movement, but he'd rather die. Before he could conform to that, Kamui pulled out the head, then punched the sodden face. Disregarding where he kicked, Kamui started to beat the boy, building bruises upon bruises that had been built upon bruises.

Rukawa's screams echoed endlessly.

Finally he was dropped to the floor, giving time for blood to ooze out of his cuts. _I… will not break! _With that resolve, he tried to hoist himself to his mangled feet, only to fall panting.

"Your teammates betrayed you, left you along in our hands. Why do you still hold out for them? For traitors who discarded you and treat you like trash? Your bonds are superficial. Move on," Kamui informed, then he spun on his heels and left the room. Shisui could spend more time with the boy today.

He met his partner outside the room. "Are you sure that kid is worthy of the Akatsuki post? I have the feeling that you are just trying to fill up on a broken dream."

"Stop. After this, I will let you see his true potential and his worth to Akatsuki. Get back to the schedule. We have only a month to secure him. After that he will be a lost cause."

"Deal with him then, and stop implicating me until I see your reason," Kamui said shortly.

Shisui watched the retreating form with mild distaste. _Then I will make you understand. _

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura spoke to her mother. Or rather, had a _pleasant _argument.

"I've already enlisted you as a clerk," the older Haruna started.

Sakura's hand halted midway towards her weapons pouch. She struggled to keep her frustration in check, but her voice was low and deadly. "What?"

"Don't use that tone with me. It's too dangeroud on the battlefield. Look, Ino's mother was killed in the Sound Invasion. Her father was killed in the Konoha Invasion. I don't want to lose a child."

"Then another parent will lose her child, and her child will lose his parent in another war. It's my duty to protect…"

"Why does it have to be you? I know that you're in an Uchiha's team so there's a lot of pressure on you to perform up to their standard, but you're in the Uzumaki's team. There's too much risk."

"No, Mother. Please, just get out of my business, okay?" Sakura yelled. She snatched up her weapons pouch and snapped it onto her belt. "I… I lost a teammate. I'm going to bring him back! Just keep out of my life!"

"The AA has already accepted…"

"You don't understand, do you? No, you don't. You don't know what it's like to be ninja, you've never been one. So just… just stay out of it," Sakura said and left the house.

And saw Naruto leaning on her porch.

"N-Naruto?"

He unfolded his arms and stared at her determinedly. "Sakura. I'm sorry… for the way I acted at the hospital. Would you… Do you want to train with me?"

Sakura forced a smile. "Okay. Thanks."

Naruto grunted, then he fished for his wallet and pulled out two Ichiraku coupons. "Come on, breakfast's on me."

Sakura's grin widened as they walked away together. It was nice… to have someone there for her when she needed it. But why couldn't her mother understand that?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke retracted his Fuuma Shuriken and sat on the ground. He pulled out a small stone piece and started to grind at his shuriken's edges. A radius of destruction laid about him. Of course, Konoha would never allow it's forests to handle such damage, but this was the Uchiha forest.

_I can't believe it. I'm only on to the Fuuma Shuriken and I'm already this exhausted. And it's supposed to be one of my best weapons!_

The shadow windmill embedded into a decacipitated trunk.

With this sudden surge of passion Sasuke raced up to a manikin and attacked it with fervour. His Sharingans spun wildly. He was seeing Shisui with that disgusting, filthy face. Then Kimimaro's sinister demeanor. Kamui's professional calm.

Sasuke stopped in mid punch and fell to his knees. Why had he imagined Rukawa's face? "Why, damn it?"

Sasuke stared at the ground, then he looked up. An equally worn and exhausted Itachi emerged from the pathway. His brother's eyes held no emotion, but instead slid into his characteristic fighting stance. "Enough of your foolish mutterings. Let us spar."

Sasuke flinched, the remark had stung. He slid into the Jyuuken stance, and Itachi charged.

Sasuke blocked the first kick, but the next left hook weaved around his defense into his jaw. Sasuke skidded back slightly, then twisted over to feint a kick. Itachi shifted to the side, and Sasuke went for a backhand. Itachi caught it and pulled Sasuke backward. A knee kick, then a roundhouse that sent Sasuke into the dirt.

Itachi regarded his brother coldly. "Foolish ototo. Do you need me to henge into Shisui or what?"

As if to illustrate his point, Itachi turned into his most hated enemy. Sasuke felt his hands clench in fury.

"Don't be an idiot," Shisui's mouth said. "Your goal is to get Rukawa back, not necessarily to kill Shisui. Remember that. With Rukawa dead you won't get anything. Now fight me. Get through me to get to Rukawa!"

Sasuke leapt to his feet, pulling his Fuuma Shuriken out of the trunk he was next to. "Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

Shisui disappeared into a wisp of smoke. Instinctively, Sasuke swung his armed hand back. Metal met metal, shuriken met kunai. Pouring chakra into his feet, Sasuke let go of the Fuuma Shuriken, ducked into the floor, and then jabbed upwards for a mule kick.

Shisui shot through the air.

Sharingan spinning with memories of a spandex-clad ninja, Sasuke pushed Shisui further through the air with succesive roll kicks. He growled with pain and pleasure with each landed kick. Finally, he reached the apex of his leap. With two fingers, he struck two acupoints. "Chuusuusei Biribiri!"

With Shisui totally immobile, Sasuke locked arms with him, back-to-back. Their heads tilted, then pointed straight at the ground.

Then the descent began. "Secondary Lotus!" Sasuke screamed, pouring all of his chakra reserves into that attack. At the last possible moment, a hair from the ground, he leapt away, half tumbling, half skidding along the ground, gaining several abrasions.

Then came the impact, with the sound of a thousand trees falling. There was no need for the Primary lotus. The Uchiha murderer was dead.

Or the simulation of him. Itachi stepped up to the chakra-controlled manikin and inspected it. Then he walked over to his paralysed brother.

"Good attempt and use of your Sharingan. But Shisui would never be caught with such straight forward moves a such a long combo. And let's be realistic. How do you rescue you teammate now? You have a long way to go. For now, rest." Itachi lay a few pouches on the ground. "These are medical pills. Don't take them all at once or successively. You'll only damage your body and make little progress. Train hard. I expect more from you."

Sasuke closed his eyes and flexed his hands while Itachi walked away. Even with the anger burning in his heart, he felt gratitude. He understood why his brother had done all that. _Thank you, aniki. _

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Itachi got out of the shower. A bottle of soldier pills was on the stand, and he took one. He shrugged his ANBU captain uniform on. Reinstated with original rank, Ibiki had been kind enough to do that much. Apparently, his former ANBU colleagues had requested this also. He had been assured that there would be no lame ice-breaking, only mission briefing and then move in.

Minutes later, Itachi stepped toward the counter. "Morning, Anko-san. Scroll S-13."

Anko selected the specific scroll and handed it to Itachi. "Good to have you back, Uchiha. The third door on the left."

Nodding mechanically, Itachi entered, reading his unfurled scroll.

"Itachi-sempai!"

Itachi sighed. "Morning, Tatsu. I apologise for my three year hiatus of my ANBU captaincy. It's good to be in a team again."

His teammates nodded enthusiastically, then took their seats again, masking their face over with concentration."

"Mission briefing," Itachi said commandingly. "S-class, to assasinate Tazuna of Wave Country. He is their current mayor. I have worked with him recently. It appears as if he has started a small but powerful ronin clan, the Mibu, headed by a Takimura Hijikata."

"Sir!"

"Yes?"

"I was assigned to keep a tab on him two years back. He is a ronin more skilled than most Samurai, and so is his key followers. I believe that he is dangerous enough to be a potential threat."

"Thank you, Uzuki. Aside from this character, there are other players. If not, this wouldn't be S-rank." The black haired, older kunoichi nodded.

Itachi continued his report. Minutes later, he said, "We will split into three teams of four, headed by Uzuki, Genma, Inuzuka, and me.

"We leave at four today."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto checked the stopwatch and shook his head. He finally clicked 'stop' when Sakura reached the top of the waterfall. They were training stamina and chakra control. "You're three seconds slower than your first attempt, Sakura. An improvement from your tenth, but a deprovement from your last one."

Sakura gasped for air, clenching her fists to stop herself from shaking.

"Do you want a break, Sakura?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"No!" The answer came out more aggressive than expected. "Let's do it again."

"Fine."

Sakura descended the waterfall, leaping backwards to slow the rapid descent. High above, Naruto raised his fist. Sakura waited intently. _I'll do it this time. For all of us. _

Naruto brought his fist down and clicked the stopwatch. Almost slipping on the rapids, Sakura disappeared through the water plumes, then up the waterfall.

Naruto glanced at the stopwatch._ Come on Sakura! _The digital numbers continued to increase. _Do it! We have to move one, or you'll be left behind. _A pink blur dashed past him. Sakura pulled herself onto the muddy bank and wiped the mud from beneath her eyes.

Naruto ran up to her with satisfaction. "Great work. A five second improvement. Let's stop this for now and move on the target practice. Rest for a while."

"I don't need rest, Naruto," Sakura snapped and heaved herself to her feet.

"You do!" Naruto retorted.

"You're just underestimating me because I'm a kunoichi!"

"I'm not the one who's so tired she can't even lift a rock!"

Sakura drew a kunai. "You bastard!"

Naruto drew his own dagger and they charged at each other, the mounted tension pouring over. Sakura used her free hand to punch Naruto in the face. "Your grip on the kunai is totally effing wrong! You don't hold it like a bit of glass, damnit! You hold it away from the blade!"

"Don't lecture me! Look at yourself! You're so slow you can't catch a slug!"

Sakura screamed in frustration. Why couldn't her yellow-haired teammate get over his stupidity!

Naruto yelled just as hard. _Why does she have to act like such a bimbo? _

This heated exchange continued for an hour before they were both drained to the core.

"Heh, you can't even lift a kunai," Naruto smirked superiorly. Sakura grunted. "Look who's crawling in the mud, baka."

"I don't know why I even bothered, Sakura," Naruto said and collected his things and left.

"Well, you shouldn't have bothered, and neither should I!" Sakura yelled back before collapsing into the mud. Her face, clothes and hair was stained with the brown earth from the numerous times she had fell onto it.

The whole world was turning on her. First Sasuke, then her mother, and now Naruto. Why was everything so wrong? She felt as if a load was on her shoulders. _Mom probably won't even let me step into her house now. _She gazed into the pink sky. _Might as well camp out here._

Sakura wiped the grime away and plunged into the edge of the river. The waterfall had moved further and further away as she and Naruto had fought, so the water was calmer. Then she realised: _I matched Naruto blow for blow! _Then her frustration at him boiled up and she stopped thinking about that. When she was clean, Sakura turfed a bit of ground and started a small wigwam fire. Piling more wood, she unrolled her sleeping bag and slept under the stars. Their twinkling light mocked at her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke's hand rested on a tanto, and he lifted it. He remembered, three years ago, when Rukawa actually really opened up to him and decided to teach him to use on.

_"What's this?" Sasuke asked with mild distaste. It looked like a small knife, and less glamorous than a kunai. It did not have a ring attached to the end. He flicked the blade. "It's low quality."_

"_Actually it's better than a kunai's steel, but still ranks lower than a Samurai's katana. With this, it can replace the bulk of many tools."_

"_But I've just mastered shuriken and kunais. I don't need… a knife."_

"_A tanto."_

_Sasuke faked a yawn. "Hey, look! They're having a discount on shurikens!"_

"_Low-grade. Nevermind. But a tanto is useful," Rukawa made one last attempt, but his "Aniki" had already run off to goggle at the shurikens._

Sasuke wield the tanto._ If only I had listened. _"Kakashi-sensei, what does a tanto do?"

Kakashi's eyebrows emerged from Icha Icha Paradise. "You're interested in tantos? I thought the Uchihas prefered glamorous weapons."

"Please," Sasuke retorted sacarstically. "The Academy has little emphasis on it. Even Itachi doesn't use these."

"He used to, when Konoha was less peaceful. A tanto is basically a modified knife. It can pry doors, dig holes or ditches, or thrown like a kunai or shuriken. But for most offenses it's used to cut or stab. While your basic kunai requires some sawing motion, this doesn't."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the small weapon. He turned to the shop keeper. "How much is one?"

The shopkeeper looked surprised. "People rarely buy those these days. I actually have a surplus. I'll give you five free if you buy ten. Five credits each."

Sasuke blanched. "Fifty credits? Forty."

"Forty-five."

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes and withdrew the money from his wallet.

Kakashi followed the youngest Uchiha out the door before he stopped. "Only tantos? You called me over just to buy fifteen tantos?"

"No, I called you over to teach me how to use tantos, Kakashi-sensei. I'm borrowing you for an hour. After that you can go back to Jiraiya-sama to do whatever you two do."

"Hey, I'm only his proof reader."

"Yeah, right," Sasuke said, then caught himself. Such levity, it was as if he was insulting Rukawa's memory… no, his duty to Rukawa.

"Very well, anything else?"

"Not really, unless you can give me access to even to the Archive's restricted areas."

"Actually, a pass isn't necessary for the head of a clan, or the second-in-charge," Kakashi eye's twinkled. Sasuke grimaced. Obviously the silver haired jounin knew what was on his mind.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. But I advise you to improve your tai-jutsu and agility. It's all very well against genins and low-level chuunins, but against the specialists, you have to at least hold some ground. Obviously, I have no time to teach you anything will all this ruckus, you'll have to learn it yourself. You're the genius."

"Thanks for the advice. Anything else?"

"Let's say you're headed towards the ANBU, specifically, Hunter-Nin. A Hunter-Nin is probably the most skilled of the ANBU ranks. A ninja who goes in has to excel in knowledge. You don't go in there only knowing how to crack your opponent's neck within the fastest possible time. Chuunins and Jounins do that. A Hunter-Nin infiltrates and assasinates. Camouflage, poisons, stealth, intelligence are only a few things. You aren't good at them yet."

Sasuke took a few more steps before he spoke. "Kakashi-sensei, you seem to be one step ahead of me, knowing my every move. I presume you were a Hunter-Nin?"

"No, I was considered and rejected. I didn't have the qualities."

Sasuke stopped and whirled on the Jounin. "Do I?"

"Possibly."

"Do my teammates?"

"Small chance, but don't close the lid on that yet. Lead them if you have to, they might pass the test. The main reason was that I had already passed the age of fifteen when I applied. Even if you are outstanding in every aspect, the Hunter-Nin course lasts one year or more, no less, according to your progress. The deadline is fifteen years old."

"Is my brother…"

"No. I think he didn't like the idea of being away when his clan was going to overthrow the Hokage."

"Oh. Who's the youngest Hunter-Nin?"

"The Yondaime Hokage and Itachi was considered for the rank at fourteen. Rukawa would have entered next year. Uchiha Shisui entered just before his seventeenth birthday."

"Then I'm going to beat that bastards record, I'm in two years time," Sasuke swore.

"Not to be rude, but, that's nigh impossible, even for an Uchiha who's a genius of his genius clan."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

And their journey for the Uchiha forest continued in silence.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was six days after Itachi had left, and Sasuke was still struggling to master the tanto after Kakashi's short tutorial. It was proving difficult, since his senses was accustomed to a kunai when he wielded the knife. That was one part he was lacking in: flexibility. All ninjas were trained to be flexible, creative, but only a handful mastered this aspect of the ninja art.

Sasuke knew that even if it took him forever, as long as he got closer to Rukawa, he would master any art.

But things were proving difficult. He had picked numerous doors, even the Hyuuga Main House, without getting detected, a sign of how much his stealth had improved over the three days. Diging trenches were all very well, but the precise art of stabbing and cutting was much more difficult than he had thought.

For one, instead of just flesh, Kakashi told him to aim for maximum disruption. For example, a single nerve that proved hard to locate in the right forearm would immobilize it.

As the Uchiha prodigy, he could do it, but as a beginner of tanto, he kept slicing his hands. On the third day, Sasuke took six hours off his tanto-work to learn basic skin healing medical jutsus.

As a result, Sasuke had familiarized with aspects of the human body the Academy textbooks which he had adored never mentioned. "Comprehensive guide my foot."

For the umpteenth time in the row, Sasuke slid out the tanto, and in one fluid motion, picked the lock of one of the many utility shacks in the Uchiha compound, dived in like a whispering shadow, and killed the manikin by slicing the windpipe.

"Shiiit!" Sasuke yelled while the blade drew a line across his palm. He raised a chakra-enforced healing hand to the wound, which sealed up quickly. _Assasination attempt successful, but flecks of my blood on the floor will give away my identity. _

The shack darkened while figures blocked out the sunlight seeping through the door.

"Finally found you, Sasuke."

Sasuke straightened up and regarded his teammates. "What are you doing here?"

Naruto glanced at Sakura, then turned to Sasuke. "What's with that question? Aren't teammates supposed to train together?"

Sasuke's eyes hardened. He didn't need this right now. What he needed was to train and not wait for others. Then Kakashi's words floated to his mind.

_"Small chance, but don't close the lid on that yet. Lead them if you have to, they might pass the test."_

He slid his tanto into his weapons pouch. "Then let's do it."

Naruto grinned ferally. "You won't believe how much both of us have improved. I bet if we sparred, you'd be on the losing end against Sakura."

"Oh really, Naruto," Sasuke stated coldly. He didn't take to be called weak anymore. Especially his teammates. They were supposed to support him, and he them. "Want to see?"

"Sasuke," Sakura doved in rapidly. "Naruto didn't mean it that way."

"Yeah," Sasuke said skeptically. "But I want to take him up on that challenge. Let's spar, Sakura, hand-to-hand combat only. It will benefit both of us."

A flicker of fear entered Sakura's eyes. But she nodded. It was true that she needed to test her strength.

A minute later, Sakura raised both hands. "I surrender. Good fight, Sasuke."

"Hn." Sasuke extended a hand. Sakura didn't take it and got up by herself.

"You're so good Sasuke, I think that both Naruto and I should go up against you."

_She wants to lay it on thick? What's she onto? That's an underhand trick? I'll show her I'm capable, that I would have been capable of taking Kimimaro down faster. Damn you, Sakura! _Sasuke's mind screamed in rage, his exterior unfazed. He only nodded coldly. "Bring it, both of you."

"You're not so good, Sasuke!"

"Don't act so high and mighty, bastard!"

"Shut up!"

Seven minutes later, Naruto and Sakura fell back into the earth. For some reason, Sasuke couldn't hold back a triumphant smirk. It was as if he was trying to prove something. "I won."

Naruto and Sakura lay on the dirt, refusing to comment.

Sasuke sighed and lay beside them, their heads forming a small triangle. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just so frustrated at everything that's happened. That's not a good excuse, and I promise I won't do this again. We have to stay strong as a team. For Rukawa."

"For Rukawa." His two companions echoed softly.

"I'm sorry, too. Shouldn't have been such a bimbo," Sakura said.

Naruto sighed and put down his pride. "Yeah, me too, just jerk instead of bimbo. I'm sorry."

Sakura giggled for a bit, then it died down, returning to the sombre atmosphere. Three pairs of eyes looked up at the leaves, a gust of wind covering the sun with a cloud. Cool wind tickled their foreheads.

The three of them smiled, unknowing to the other teammate.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A month passed. Rapidly. And the reunited Team Seven improved just as dramatically. Naruto and Sakura helped Sasuke with the tanto. Sasuke and Naruto helped Sakura with her stamina. Sasuke and Sakura helped Naruto with his chakra control. Each of them had something to contribute, and each of them needed some patching up.

Needless to say, Naruto and Sakura moved in with Sasuke.

"So how's things with your mother?" Naruto asked.

"Ah, I officially got kicked out. Hope you don't mind, Sasuke."

"No, I don't. I have an avenue to take off the boredom of being a bachelor now. Naruto, you can sod off now."

An etch of hurt creased Naruto's face, but it smoothed over quickly with a false laugh.

"Hey, I didn't mean it that way. And don't do your fake laughter with such precision. It scares me."

Naruto cackled evilly.

In unison, Team Seven slurped the last of the contents of their ramen. They clasped their hands together and said, "Thanks for the ramen, Ichiraku-san."

"What's left?" Sakura asked on the way to her new home.

"Two more months, then we take up missions again. Naruto, have you approached Gaara?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto nodded. "Gaara agreed, and I think his siblings will be coming too."

"Good. It's enough to form an ANBU entrance-exam team," Sasuke said. He clenched his fist in fierce determination. _One step closer. _

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shisui took the blood-matted hair and yanked it backwards. He opened his eyes. "Mangekyou Sharinga: Tsukiyomi!"

_A mangled, rough scream tore through the air. The ceiling, turned red, the shadows turned white. Everything was in red negatives. _

_Kazuya looked around him. It was in the past, a few weeks ago. He was still acting the role of Rukawa after escaping from Shisui._

_They were in the Hidden Sound, preparing for the battle to come. Naruto, Sakura, and Itachi were all still there. Where was Sasuke? For some reason, he had a dark foreboding about this._

_It was a memory, so something bad was going to happen. Things were getting fuzzy. Everything was still in negatives._

But he wasn't thinking about it as Tsukiyomi. Everything was in the past. It was his "memory".

_"Oh shit! We've been discovered!" Sasuke yelled as he crashed into SATAF'S INN. Kazuya watched everyone's eyes widened in surprise. Fear rippled through all of them._

"_Let's go! Split into two! Sakura, come with me. Naruto, Sasuke, Rukawa, handle yourselves. Meet at Konoha two weeks tops!"_

"_Hai!"_

_The boys of Team Seven leapt through the window and tore across the rooftops rapidly. They crossed the border in no time._

_What was this apprehension building in his chest? Kazuya clutched it worriedly. He knew something bad was going to happen._

_Right on cue, a team of Sound Archive guards surrounded them in the Ricefield Forest. _

_Naruto yelled in shock. Kazuya turned to Sasuke. The Uchiha looked calculative._

"_Stop and surrender."_

"_Sasuke, what do we do?" Naruto asked, totally disregarding Kazuya._

_Sasuke whirled around. Kazuya felt the hard butt of the kunai ram into his abdomen. He crashed into the ground, but stared up. Why were they betraying him? Why Sasuke? Was this how far relationships went?_

_Naruto took up the cue and held up a familiar hand seal. "Tajyuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Tajyuu Henge no Jutsu!"_

_In the meantime, Kazuya was paralysed with the shock of betrayal. The sudden snap of the bonds he had thought to be firm. Sasuke was immobilizing him without emotion. Everytime he tried to get up, the Uchiha made him go down, amongst the hundred Naruto-turned-Sasukes._

_Somehow, he still wanted the bonds to be real, so he never retaliated._

_Then the Sasuke fled, crashing through the guards. The head decided not to follow them. They turned on the winded ninja in front of them. Himself._

_They were all Jounin-leveled. By the time he was up they were on him, forcing his face into the dirt while bounding his arms and chest tightly, leaving his feet chained by a long cord that let him free to walk but not to run. Finally the hung a metal leash on his neck and dragged him forward._

_Anger and fear welled within him._

_So that's how it started. They betrayed me._

Kazuya's mind delved deeper into the clutches of Tsukiyomi.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Yes, an outrageously slow update with a slow start on the chapter that continued all the way till the end. But everything seemed so important. Homework, CCA, tests, I think they override a fast update. I know some parts are lousy, but I enjoy other parts.

Oh yeah, I didn't make a mistake when I called Rukawa Kazuya. Before I start explaining, I'll stop and let you guess! Muahaha, evil me…

Anyway, please review, it's so appreciated!


	21. Chapter Twenty Stabbed In The Back

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews! **Another round of applause! And to all my other readers, thanks for taking the time!

**Chapter Twenty- Stabbed In The Back**

The figure slipped on his new cloak. It was black, and decorated with red clouds. Red as blood. He raised his hand to his eye level and inspected the ring on the last of his left fingers. The chinese character: Void. It was befitting, for he was a void. The figure indulged in a smirk. Then the characteristic straw hat covered his head and the figure was off.

"I am ready. Let's go."

Kamui looked up. He found it hard to believe that the unblemished face, the perfect body, had been tortured to the edge of death so many times. The unreflectiveness and coldness of those red pupils could be explained though, for one cannot experience the full force of Tsukiyomi without serious psychological damage. His gaze swung to his partner, Shisui. The Uchiha was even more ambitious than he had previously thought. Kamui sighed and stood up. They had worked together for years, but there were still cracks in the partnership.

The three Akatsuki stepped out of the inn, entering the busy streets of Wave Country.

Kazuya led them through the bustling streets. Although no one knew who they were, they still parted like fish to a burger. One did not have to know in order to feel danger.

The streets cleared as they walked further and further from the city, bypassing O-Naruto-Kyo into a dense forest. A few jars, meat, and joss sticks lay outside the abandoned pathway. Obviously foolish villagers believed that the soul of a demon haunted the area.

_They are not far from the truth,_ Kazuya mused. "Kamui-san, Shisui-san, this is it. That is Haku's grave. Are you ready?"

"Spare us the melodrama, of course I'm ready," Shisui said. He closed his eyes, gathering his chakra. Meanwhile, Kamui helped Kazuya lift the catatonic body out of the six-foot hole. They forced the eyes open.

"Mangekyou Sharingan! Divine Amaterasu!"

Kazuya winced as a piercing howl rang through the forest, presumably the effects of having your long anchored soul ripped from the gates of deep hell and forced into your comatose body which has not experienced intelligent life for weeks.

"Was I like this?"

"Maybe."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The answer's too obvious, don't you think?" Kamui said for Shisui. Kazuya snarled.

"Get ready for the stir-crazy thing," Shisui said. "The first time I did it this person here tried to kill the world with a toothpick. With Zabuzza's sword just beside him, who knows what Haku will do?"

Glaring at Shisui, Kazuya hurriedly grabbed the Mist Demon's mighty cleaver.

Haku stopped thrashing about, and his yell died in his throat. He opened bloodshot eyes, glared around, then swooned. Kamui bent down quickly to check for vitals. "The pulse is weak. He probably only had that much energy. We have to put him on a drip and a couple of catalyst pills. And a toilet with a good flush."

The Akatsuki winced, and two of them came up with excuses immediately. Shisui let out a dramatic sigh. "Ah, I am weak from using the Divine Amaterasu. I need rest."

Kamui glared daggers at his partner, then zoned in on their youngest member. He was having "a lot of trouble" carrying the sword which he had been twirling moments earlier. Sighing coolly to protect his pride, Kamui slung the unconcious Haku over his back.

"Damn idiots."

Shisui chuckled for a while. Two new members in such a short time. Undoubtedly, they would be partners: their styles suited each other. And with special tuning to the newer, both of them would have a similar goal of vengeance against Konoha's Team Seven.

Kamui stole a glance at his sadistic partner. Luckily the Uchiha wasn't a masochist like that insane fool known as Hidan. He had enough to put up with. The trouble was which demon the new duo would be hunting. There were four teams, exclusive of their leader. With the recent addition, five.

Shisui caught Kamui looking at him.

"Kazuya, you and Haku will hunt down the Kyuubi. Kamui and I will be shifting our efforts to the Eight-Tails. You understand why, right?"

Kazuya nodded mechanically. "Thank you, Shisui-san."

Hours later, Haku woke up to find himself restrained by heavy chains and a drip. He blinked the tears away from his prickling eyes. Memories were slowly filling in, like a blurred picture coming into focus. One that affected him the most was a blond kid with piercing blue eyes and whisker marks on his feral face. _Why? _

_Where am I? _

Haku found himself staring at a mirror. And reflecting from that mirror were two insane, amber eyes that burned like coals in the dark, marked with a mesmerizing pattern. Then everything went black, going into negatives. He could feel a pounding foreboding, a dagger inching through his mind. Then everything was over, in that one second.

Shisui watched the newly conformed Akatsuki scream, then fall forward on his restraints limply.

A sadistic smile creased his features.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sandaime Hokage-sama! The three that you requested for earlier have arrived. They are waiting at the lounge."

"Send them in."

"Yes, sir!"

Sasuke, who was the most educated of the three in these matters, entered the room first. Sakura and Naruto only mimicked his actions.

Sandaime stood up and passed out the three application forms.

Naruto, eyes snapped tight, forced them apart. The Hokage's stamp and seal. A bright grin lit his features for a moment, then Sasuke jabbed his rib. Wincing, he masked his face over with solemn respect.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama. I apologise on the behalf of my team for the inconvenience that we have caused."

"No matter," the seventy-six year old shinobi said with a wave of his hand. "Uchiha Itachi has spoke highly of your current skill. If it interests you, he has left for another long-term mission again. All of you have been reinstated as Chuunin. If your probabtion goes well, you may take up the ANBU selections, or become a Tokubetsu Jounin in a year depending on your dedication."

Team Seven nodded. Sasuke stood up to accept the scroll in the Sandaime's outreached hand.

"This is your mission particulars. An A-rank assignment to replace the missing members of my bodyguard team. All Jounin and ANBU have their hands full with other missions. I may not even expect an assasination attempt. But the last Sound Invasion took away five of our members. Three of you is a stretch for me, but any other source will stretch our dwindling population. Don't worry, this is only a temporary measure: only this mission."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama. Is there anything else?" Sasuke asked politely.

"No. You are dismissed."

Naruto sighed when they left the building. "Escorting the Sandaime! Who would have thought of that?"

"Don't be disappointed, Naruto. My brother said that you had to be a Tokubetsu Jounin at the very least in order to do it, and you have to pass a very strict examination. And Hokage-sama was only reassuring us. There are at least five assasination attempts for the average kage in a week."

Sakura unfurled the mission scroll and scanned it. "Two weeks! Do you think it'll be enough to recruit spies?"

"Spies recruiting spies. Sasuke, you come up with the dumbest ideas," Naruto said.

Sasuke turned to Naruto, opened his mouth, closed it, then turned to Sakura. "Is this kid really a Chuunin?"

"Hmmm… there has to be a mistake," Sakura replied mockingly.

"Hey!"

Sasuke sighed. "Naruto, the main source of information for spies are spies. Mostly its equivalent trade, so if we feed off information, we'll attract sources. Then we differentiate the reliable from the unreliable and set up an unwritten contract."

Naruto's hand immediately went to his pocket. "Does this require money?"

Sasuke smirked. "Lots of it, and lots of information too."

"And we have, what, three days?"

Sasuke rubbed his hands together evilly. "My clan stole some documents from the other clans. I can replicate them. So, that's settled and I'm not hurting my wallet."

"Hey, I'm a poor, poor orphan who lives on cup ramen, don't look at me like that, Sakura. Sasuke, I'm sure you need a helping hand," Naruto said mock-seriously.

Sakura sighed. Then her face lit up evilly. "I'm sure the Konoha public fund will be happy to part with the money, especially since most of it goes to the Council. It should be fairly easy. Happy duplicating!"

Once Sakura left, Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Do you know how to operate a photocopying machine?"

"What's that?"

Sasuke sighed. "Nevermind you can hand-copy documents written in scrolls."

Naruto trailed behind Sasuke, with the sinking feeling that he was being bullied.

Sakura reached the Community Centre in a matter of minutes. And met her mother. Graciously but devoid of visible emotion, Sakura opened the door and waved the older Haruno in politely. Nodding stiffly, Mrs. Haruno entered before her daughter. With all the places taken, the two were forced into the same booth to fill out the forms. Sakura noted the food tickets, KPF (Konoha Public Fund) Withdrawal form, and other papers.

"How are you doing, Mrs. Haruno."

Her mother stared at her piercingly, then her gaze dropped. "The family's breadwinner left, and my job as a dishwasher can't keep up with the rent and my living expenses."

Sakura composed her thoughts and facial expressions quickly. "Then why don't you change living quarters? I'm sure community housing isn't that bad here in Konoha?"

"I've applied for one, but because it states that the breadwinner is still in the family, I've been rejected. Apparently, things have to be official."

"Then let's drop the act, Mother. Are you implying that we should get the administration done? This has to be very humiliating, isn't it? Would you like ever thing to be over with now?" Sakura asked bluntly. Her mother frowned.

"No, Sakura, I don't. But if you don't quit your…"

"No, Mother, I'll never quit my job, so if you can't accept that and would rather I left," Sakura broke off. As if she had waited for the dreaded moment all along, Sakura snatched a blue slip and signed one of the empty spaces.

Mrs. Haruno stared at the remaining, untouched black line. Her gaze fell on her daughter's firm signature, then raised to her daughter's face. Sakura's face was determined, but her eyes were sad, almost pleading. It occurred to her that Sakura would never change.

She would not give in.

With a flourish of the pen, she etched her signature onto the printed line.

"It is done, Mrs. Haruno. Over with. You can finally get community housing instead of a daughter."

Sakura's parent stayed at the booth, watching Sakura leave. The younger Haruno closed her eyes, willing the tears away, keeping her mother in her heart.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Do you think Sakura's been acting weird ever since she left her mother?" Naruto asked, then leant back to admire his penmanship. Few people would affiliate the neat but slightly spiky words with his notorious reputation, but they were his. Years of writing lines as punishment, filling out forms for his various living needs had perfected them. Not to mention that Iruka-senset gave him a job of doing his paperwork for him when he was in the Academy.

But he had to glare at Sasuke. The glorious photocopying machine was printing things he would need to do in half and hour within two seconds- a simple push of the button- Sasuke could have taught him.

"If you didn't notice I would kill you. I think so too. I heard from Aniki that she lost her dad to the Kyuubi war, so she grew up under her mother. Naturally, Mrs. Haruno blames the Kyuubi, and effect, hates you, so there's a lot of stress for Sakura to be in this team. Still, she's said her mother meant a lot to her, her pillar of support. Losing a mother figure is terrible. They're like.. like a balance for you, a balm from reality."

An odd look washed over Naruto's face. It did not escape Sasuke's eyes.

"It's not your fault. It's Mrs. Haruno's if anything. But understand her point of view. She lost her ninja of a husband to war. Sakura's the only one left, and she's with the vessel of the Kyuubi. And with the recent Invasion, Mrs. Haruno's worried."

"So do you think Sakura should quit being a kunoichi?"

"That's not up to us to think, Naruto. We both don't want her too, but if she wants too, we'll have to support that. We can't decide anything for her, even if it's a teammate. If she doesn't want to, her mother can't stop her?"

"Why? Don't they say filial piety is everything?"

Sasuke shot Naruto a look. "We're ninja, Naruto."

Naruto bit back a question. Sasuke waited for a few seconds, then went back to aligning the papers and photocopying them. Naruto could settle somethings by himself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kazuya, informants have contacted us. The Sandaime Hokage will arrive in the former Otogakure next week for a fortnight. He will be settling administration and border issues, and sign Ricefield Country under Fire territory. The Leader orders your team to assasinate the Hokage."

"Will he gain anything from the Hokage's death?"

"Yes. He will receive, and link it into your account, the payment. In effect, we will have a month's window to carry out miscallaneous plans, unconcerning the Tails."

"You have not informed me of such plans, Shisui-san," Kazuya accused.

"The Leader will tell you, we don't have say in this. If he doesn't, it doesn't concern you. That's his style. He believes that the less his chess pieces know of his plans, the higher the rate of success. You and Haku are expected to leave in two weeks time," Kamui cut in. "We'll leave tonight. Don't send us off. Get acquainted with your partner."

Kazuya glared at the two men then retreated.

"Haku, are you ready?" Kazuya asked when he entered their room. Said person was sitting on the bed, still running on a drip, and glaring into his dead master's blade. "Is this me?"

"Don't ask stupid questions," Kazuya said irritably. "That's you and you are Haku. We need to get 'acquainted'. How did you get to know Zabuzza? Shit. Cut the crap. Let's change it. Tell me about your ninja occupation."

_Inhale. Exhale. _"After Zabuzza-san deemed me to be trained sufficiently, he enrolled me into the Mist Community. I took the graduation test and passed immediately. I was incorporated into an unwanted team for the Chuunin Examinations that came two months later and aced it. After that Zabuzza-san took me away to train me for another year. When I returned I joined the Mist ANBU. Four years later, when I reached thirteen, I became a Hunter-Nin. I stayed for a year, then Zabuzza-san carried out his coup de et, but he failed and we became missing nin. I believe it was because three years before that Hoshigake Kisame left the Seven Mist Swordsmen and crippled Zabuzza-san heavily."

By now, Kazuya had calmed down significantly. "Who did you hunt when you joined ANBU?"

"Mostly daimyos and prominent samurai during my training. When I joined officially, I was given more dangerous missions. I bested two Kaguyas, clan members of the late Kimimaro. Was Kimimaro really a member of Akatsuki?"

"For a while. Shisui-san said that he was killed as soon as he joined us."

"I remember him, because the Sannin Orochimaru came after my battle last year."

"Stop getting the timelines mixed up. Two years ago."

"What is bothering you?"

"Shut up. I don't know. Don't ask. Carry on."

"I don't appreciate this switch-the-channel attitude, partner."

"Okay, fine. Our first mission is in two weeks time. My guess is that you've never assasinated a Kage, or anyone at that level."

"True."

"So I have a reason to be worried. No Kaguya has had a reputation exceeding that of Konoha's Copy Cat Ninja, Hatake Kakashi. You've fought Kakashi, do you think you can handle him?"

"No."

"Together, we could handle two of him. But do you think you can handle the Hokage and his bodyguards?"

"No."

"Exactly. This is a doomified mission. The only route now is to outwit them."

"The worst course of action."

"Exactly."

"Don't use the word 'doomified'. I think of the word 'Shakespeare'."

Kazuya raised an eyebrow.

"Don't ask me! I don't know what 'Shakespeare' is."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kamui shivered.

"What is it?" Shisui asked.

"I think the ground just sneezed."

Shisui stared at the damp mound of earth which looked oddly like a grave.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Night's sky was draped over the earth. Stars dotted over the black canvas. Konoha's dark hour was a picture of beauty. The Mount of Hokage's were silhoutted in darkness. The temples and hotels at its feet were alit with candles. The various ninja departments still ran as quickly as it did in the day. Konoha was an ever busy village.

Currently, Sakura's understanding of her hometown was confined to her small space in the bookstore. The plaster ceiling was not a lit with stars but with flourescent tubes. The air-conditioned building was adorned with rows and rows of tall bookcases piled with books, continuing until the fifth and top floor. With KPF money bag in her weapon's pouch and an armful of books, Sakura was silently exploring the bookstore.

Ever since she had come back from the Wave Country mission, she hadn't stepped into her sanctuary. With her schedule filled with training and missions, it was hard to relax. Perhaps in the past months, it had changed.

She alighted the winding and steep stairwell onto the fourth floor. A wooden door, and painted in a sick yellow: Kakashi's Rakeun. Underneath it was a sign: Underaged not allowed.

_Kakashi's Rakeun? Scarecrow's Paradise? Underaged? Interesting. _With that, the Chuunin deposited her load of books into one of the lockers at the side, took the key, and opened the door.

"Ah." Was all she could say._ Not Scarecrow's Paradise! But literally Kakashi's Paradise! Kakashi-san's reputation has been spread so far! _Sakura turned to leave, tuning out the awkward music and the even weirder, larger-than-life size posters, when something caught her eye.

A poster that stood out from all the other posteriors and busty pictures. The face of Toad Hermit, Jiraiya-sama. It caught her eye not because of the old-man tweediness, but because she recognised him as the Sannin helping the Hokage run Konoha.

Sakura ignored the lustful stares of the people around her as she walked over to a bookcase dedicated to Jiraiya-sama.

**ICHA ICHA PARADISE!** ICHA ICHA PARADISE SPECIAL EDITION! **ICHA ICHA PILOT, UNABRIDGED!** ICHA ICHA 1! **INTERVIEW: ICHA ICHA PARADISE!** ICHA ICHA VIOLENCE! **GUIDE BOOK: ICHA ICHA VIOLENCE!** ICHA ICHA PASSION! **ICHA ICHA PASSION SPECIAL EDITION!**

Sakura gaped. A glass cabinet beside it was covered with posters of the international bestseller. When she opened it, it had cassetes, tapes, and discs, all dedicated to Jiraiya-sama's world of the Icha Icha Series. Suddenly she didn't feel like calling him a sama (lord). It was like giving him the right of her most precious asset.

Still, curiosity kills the cat. Sakura took the orange book that Kakashi always held with trembling fingers.

Icha Icha Paradise was opened.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"My father was the head of the Konoha Police Corps when he was alive. For a while he worked as the Yondaime's bodyguard. Both Hokage's are very different, but I should think that the essential drills are the same. Stealth: Camouflage. Defense that centers around the principal, and offense that protects the principal. Sandaime's bodyguards will drill us tomorrow, and I think the only thing we'll be able to polish now is camou. What do you think, Naruto?"

"The plan is good. Sakura, are you okay?"

Sakura stopped giggling when she noticed her teammates staring at her, jaws touching the floor. "What?"

"You're blushing, giggling hysterically, nose bleeding all at the same time, looking just like Kakashi, and you ask what?" Naruto exclaimed. Then he noticed the huge shopping bag Sakura had brought in with the KPF money an hour ago.

"Hey, that's mine!"

As Sasuke was restraining Sakura, Naruto rummaged through the paper bag. "A book on defensive taijutsu drills. Whoa, what's this? Sakura, you're interested in become a medic nin? Human anatomy, medical jutsus, chakra control, seals, potions. Hmmm," Naruto said, pulling out a brown package.

The colour drained from Sakura's face. Suddenly gaining the strength of a wild bull, or cow since she was female, Sakura tore herself from Sasuke's grip. "That's mine!"

Unfortunately, Naruto had been holding it with two fingers, and index finger on one of the books through the paper wrapping, and his thumb on the other side of the book. The packaging ripped and multicolored books fell out.

Naruto and Sasuke's jaw dropped.

Gasping for air, Sasuke picked up three specific books. He recognised the orange one- the first book of the Icha Icha series: Icha Icha Paradise. Then the pale orange Icha Icha Violence, followed by the final instalment, the yellow Icha Icha Passion. "Wo-Wow, Ssakura," Sasuke stammered. "I…"

"Sasuke!" Naruto half-screamed, half-jammed the Icha Icha books under the table. He prayed hard, cross his heart, that Sasuke was right to respect the decision of others and trust them to make their own. There had to be something more important than concentrating on Sakura's new passion for the arts. "About camou, what about it? Huh? Huh?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and breathed. Putting the books in his hands away calmly, he pulled out the handbook of his late father. There were several notes on the tutorial. "Shall we practise this at three destinations tonight? The Hyuuga compoud, the Nara forest, and the Jounin Tower. Fairly difficult areas, but nothing that's above us once we get these point. It's ten. We have until midnight to move in. The three places are usually swarming with people until two in the morning."

Naruto stared at the notes, then at Sasuke. "How can you be so sure? And, it's not practical for us to master this in a mere two hours."

"Aniki and I used to roam these areas as a past time. No, Naruto, I'm not deprived. And I said 'understand' the points, not master them. But we should at least be adequate when we go to the Hokage Tower tomorrow."

"Okay then, let's start," Sakura broke in, thankful for her teammates' lack of exurbant reaction to her addiction. "I think that we should all take turns pointing out each other's weaknesses and strengths in stealth, regardless of camou. This way, we can construct an infallible stealth structure."

"How should I say this? Sasuke, you lack chakra control. Any sudden burst of emotion, or something that distracts you, you let go of your chakra control. People can feel you a mile off. Other than that, you're good, but camou as a team isn't that great."

"The mighty solo nin. Oh so tall, dark and handsome. La la la. Earth calling all Uchiha-Sasuke-fans! A bit out of point, but…"

"Very."

"…_Naruto_… Anyway, you stand out a mile. Let's see, most of the male population looks as bad as Naru… as a pig. So, even if you get into a crowd, you stand out to a girl," Sakura finished, her eyes gleaming dangerously.

Naruto threw up a wide grin and snapped his fingers loudly. Then he went into the director's outfit. "That's it. Cut and taken. We'll need two hours to get super genius Uchiha Sasuke look normal, a common pheasant. Sakura, the scissors! I'm gonna snip-snip offa!"

Sasuke sweatdropped, then spun away. "Sakura, good point. I'll consider that later. Your camou… first of all, you wear a bright red outfit, have bright pink hair, and bright green eyes. Not exactly conspicious. Like Aniki says, your chakra control is perfect. Your footsteps and body movement is terri… inadequate."

"Sakura, you don't really use your surroundings, so they give you away. Or you give yourself away." _Do I make sense?_

Sasuke fell on his back, grinning at the ceiling. "Naruto's good at silent movement, and knows how to add speed to that at the same time. Effects of your training with… during the one month training frame for the Third Test."

"But there's a lot to improve on, like your chakra control and blending in," Sakura said.

"Uzumaki Naruto blending in? Kakashi'll take off his pants."

Team Seven laughed, then fell silent. Sasuke stood up, a frown etched on his features. "We begin now. One hour and fifty minutes left."

Then the three ninjas drilled for fifty minutes. It was the fastest progress they had made for the past few weeks. They went over ever rock in each other's stealth skills. When they discussed camouflaging options, they dissected ever action and imitated them. Every disadvantage and advantage was overturned.

Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Wow. Sasuke, you've made significant improvement in getting ugly."

"Nice sarcarsm. And it's not getting ugly. It's blending in into common folk."

"Let's stop before we go into verbal warfare, okay? Next stop, the Hyuuga Compound," Sakura said, here eyes unconciously moving towards the Icha Icha Series.

The next day, Team Seven reported to the Hokage Tower. The Sandaime noted the stiff joints and bruised skin. Hiashi's complaints about wild pups intruding was not unfounded. A small grin lit the old man's face, then he remembered the trouble, and the paperwork to come._ Wait a minute, I'm the Hokage. I can order the brats to take care of the paperwork! Beware of the Beetle! Muahaha… Shucks. Jiraiya's rubbing off me. Oh man… Konoha's getting an ultra-perv, pedophilic Hokage._

"You have been busy."

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly at the Hokage's accusing statement. Undoubtedly the Hyuuga leader had run here screaming for his mommy, the Sandaime Hokage.

"We'll deal with that later. This is Aburame Shibi, father of Abrame Shino, your batchmate. As you know, the Aburame clan excels in espionage, and stealth, and Shibi-san is the best. So he'll be your stealth tutor.

"We do not expect fresh Chuunins, no matter the level, to know bodyguarding. Namiashi Raido here has agreed to put you through a crash course. His specialization is… bodyguarding."

Sasuke sweatdropped. Looking at his teammates, he knew that they too found that the Sandaime was a bit too overbearing with the spoon-feedin mollycoddling. But that was probably Sandaime's style. "Thank you, Aburame-san, Namiashi-san. It would be a pleasure to work under you."

Namiashi Raido coughed into his hand. Naruto's attention was drawn to him, and for the first time he noticed that the scar on his left cheek was not as it seemed. Raido had been marked by a claw like hand. Raido of course noticed Naruto's stare, so he half-explained, "Mido Ban's Snake Bite is vicious."

A flash of interest lit in Sasuke's eyes. Experienced Jounin did not describe things with extremites unless they warranted such a description. _Mido Ban… Snake Bite… Weird, I've never heard of it before, but it feels so familiar. Like how evil attracts Man's eye._

Raido sighed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nine days later, the Sandaime Hokage arrived at Otogakure, soon to officially be Konoha property, unharmed. Naruto was not disappointed. Team Seven hadn't done much, only some scouting and core defense. It had been the Tokubetsu Jounin who had dealt the real trash to the prospective Hokage-assasinators. No prisoners had been taken and no criminal was allowed to escape.

The bodyguard team had been crippled, too. One member had been killed in a clash with Sound-nins. His death was most regrettable. Team Seven was given ten free hours a day, five hours of protecting the Sandaime, and nine hours of sleep and taking care of personal hygeine.

Five days had gone by, and no one had approached them for information. Maybe the Inuzuka clan was not as infamous as Kiba claimed. "Aww, just put in the damn Hyuuga file and people will be flocking!"

"No way, good info jockeys know how to grab every piece of information, no matter how invital it might seem to be. We'll just have to wait. We still have a couple of days."

"Hello…? We were supposed to establish (bleep)ing contact two (bleep)ing days ago!"

"Naruto's right, we have to put up the Hyuuga file," Sakura told Sasuke. Said shinobi clutched the package to his chest.

"No way. Let's unload the Akimichi file in too. The two clans made large contributions to the death of many Sound ninja. We wait. Patience is the waiting game. If by tomorrow night no one takes the bait, we get proactive, got it? The Hyuuga file is the bonus."

"Then might as well we wait. Inuzukas are way more famous than the Akimichis. That file can be another bait."

"If we're willing to put in two, why not put them under separate folders. Kill two birds with one stone," Sakura suggested.

"Are you… Akihiko Sano?"

Sasuke whirled around. A lanky, shrewd-looking guy of about nineteen towered over them. "Yeah?"

"Heard you've got stuff."

"Yeah, I've got _stuff_," Sasuke said and shoved his hands nonchalantly into his pockets. "Sup?"

"More than willing to info-jockey for you, with agreeable prices, of course."

"Are you from the Sound?"

"No, Lightning Country missing-nin. Chuunin-level. I'm one of the better-than-averages, but if I'm caught, please grant me amnesity, if not I'll give you three up, Akihiko Sano, Akihiko Mizuki, Hanama Renjito."

Sasuke scratched his head, then handed over the folder and money._ Pretty confident, and he's researched on us. Not bad. _

"You've gotta have a back-up file. I want it. If not, I want that," the information dealer said, pointing at Sasuke's Hyuuga file.

"Okay, information on the Akimichi Clan as an added bonus. If you want more shit, go elsewhere," Naruto answered.

The man grabbed the two files greedily and nodded. "So what do you want me to find out?"

"Updates on this organization: Akatsuki. But if you ever see a kid called Aikawa Kazuya or Kazuhiko Rukawa, inform us immediately through carrier birds or this text comlink. Got it? We'll feed you money and leads monthly."

"Akatsuki? I heard that's full of insane S-ranked criminals. More on my life here than yours, kid. One thousand credits a month."

"You trying ta' steal the (bleep) out of us! Don't (bleep) shit with us! Six hundred credits!" Naruto retorted.

The man was calm in slapping Naruto verbally. "What language, you (bleep)ing (bleep)ole. Seeing that all of you are gakis, I'll go straight. Nine hundred."

Sasuke saw a good deal when it was presented. "Eight hundred. Make both of us happy."

"Deal. Eight a month, no less. More's welcome," their contact said, slipped the text comlink into his pocket, and disappeared into the peak hour crowd. Sakura watched his skillful disappearance, an eyebrow raised.

"Eight hundred a month? Sasuke, as low-ranked Chuunins, we only get three hundred each a month," Sakura said.

Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder and grinned ferally. "I guess there's more reason to take up high paying missions and get to ANBU faster, right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked over Sakura's shoulder and nodded.

Naruto laced his fingers behind his head. Now they had a reliable informant. "Be thankful we passed Chuunin exams, Sakura. We used to get eighty a month."

Sakura shuddered.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kazuya was perched on a tree, on the borders of Otogakure. He and Haku were enjoying the screams and howls of anguish at the heart of the city. He could just imagine Team Seven, their new colleagues and precious Hokage ruthlessly slaughtered, by Akatsukis. That would be a pleasant surprise for them.

"Bloody fireworks," Haku cursed, wincing as he did so. Kazuya grinned back, licking the blood splattered on his lips.

"Thank the gods, Haku, that I learnt medical jutsu. If not you'll just be a smear on the ground right now."

The two Akatsuki operatives had not escaped unscathed. They needed an Underground hospital fast. Kazuya coughed, a spasm of pain driving blood from his lips, every movement was agony to his rib area, at least one rib bone was broken, and he didn't have the chakra to heal it.

But he could feel the elation from Haku's heart, radiating like icy waves. His partner's skill was more impressive than he had imagined. Even the Copy Cat Ninja couldn't raise a candle to this guy's abilities.

Kazuya smirked. That Namiashi Raido had put up a hell of a fight for his precious prinicipal.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Author's Notes: Reviews are appreciated, truly. Hitting the 50 count was like a dream come true for me. Of course, I wouldn't mind more. grins madly**

**Thanks for reading!**


	22. Chapter TwentyOne The Battle

**Disclaimer: Thanks to the world I watched the first ten minutes of the first episode of Naruto: Shipuuden. Can't stand it, it rocks. Why? Because I'm not the one owning Naruto. **

AUTHOR'S NOTE: EVEN IF YOU HAVE READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER 21, NOTE THAT AS OF 22ND MARCH, THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN COMPLETELY REVISED, AND THE STORY WILL TAKE ANOTHER PATH.

Therefore, please read this chapter, of which describes the battle between the Sandaime Hokage and the two Akatsuki operatives. Chapter Twenty remains unchanged as of today, but will undergo minor revamps later on. Okay, so this is basically what happened the last chapter:

Kazuya gets psychologically manipulated and becomes an Akatsuki. As Haku is only trapped at the gates of hell and isn't dead, Shisui can revive him, and this is revealed that he uses Divine Amaterasu. Shisui clouded Haku's memories using Tsukiyomi. He had to use a mirror because a person cannot stare into the Mangekyou Sharingan without the Sharingan, if not he will die, as said in the Naruto manga. Kazuya and Haku become partners, and are bent on revenge against Team Seven.

Some time passes, and Team Seven gets reinstated as Chuunins. The Sandaime orders them to guard him on his trip to secure Otogakure as Konohagakure property because he's short on manpower. Team Seven agree, also because they want to secure information gatherers there on the Akatsuki. Their goal is to get Rukawa back, unknowing of his present fate. In the process, Haku tries an fails to crack a joke, Shakespeare is awoken from his grave, and Sakura become a fan of Icha Icha Series.

A week after the Hokage reaches Otogakure and Team Seven secure their contacts, the Akatsuki (or Haku and Kazuya) strikes, assasinating the Hokage and his official bodyguards, with the exception of Team Seven, as planned.

Thanks, again, to **Sn1ck3rD00dl3, Edengrave, **and** Miss Sebastian **for the reviews, I went crazy reading all of them. … AND I HIT 60!!! Whoo I have reached the goal a friend said I've never reached.

Data Card

Stats are measured from a scale of 0 to 5. The average Academy graduate will start off with 0 in each category. Genins are expected to have 1 in at least 2 subjects. Chuunins are expected to have 2 in 6 subjects or 3 in 3 subjects. Jounins are required to have 3 in all subjects or 4 in 3 subjects.

**Sandaime (Hokage, 69 years of age)**

**Ninjutsu: 5 Chakra level: 3**

**Genjutsu: 5 Speed: 3**

**Taijutsu: 5 Strength: 3**

**Sealing: 5 Intelligence: 4**

**Chapter Twenty-The Battle**

On the ninth day of the transferal mission of Otogakure, Ricefield Country, when Namaishi Raido walked alongside the Sandaime, the Hokage said, "Otogakure was a den of thieves and the home of an insane experiementist, we may have secured this village, but will the villagers accept it?"

"I will not hope, Hokage-sama," Raido said. "The ninja population still treat Uzumaki as the Kyuubi itself. The commoners, however, will accept Otogakure, just as they have the Uzumaki. Knowledge is the crux of all sin, as the Shodaime has said before. Perhaps, if we persuade the Daimyo to take over Ricefield Country, our ninjas will be more welcoming."

Sarutobi shook his head sadly. "There will be much to do, not just dictative laws or adjustments by the Council. The people have a hand in this. If the leg does not move, how can the body?" He spared one last sigh, before one of his bodyguards raised a hand to halt the entire formation. They had reached the Daimyo's palace. A platoon of samurai escorted them to the Ricefield Daimyo, then the talks began.

It did not end on a sour note.

"Even though Otogakure will go to Konoha, there are matters to consider. Fire Country supplies our world with the finest metals, which boosted the tin industry several decades ago, and spited the Third Ninja World War." Sarutobi winced at the hidden insult. Ricefield's Daimyo continued, "Just as your country, Ricefield Country supplies daily stock, such as wheat, rice, and corn. I hope that the Daimyo will continue to promote trade."

"I will bring up the matter to him at our next meeting, Gyojin-sama," Sarutobi said. "We have lived long in war, and wish to keep the peace. Excuse us, we have other matters to attend to."

"Of course. Peace be with you on your journey home, Sandaime-san."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As dusk fell and the full moon rose, most of the commoners had removed the last of their belongings, the Ricefield Daimyo's samurai "encouraging" them to clear out of the new section of Konohagakure as quickly as possible. All Sound ninjas had been killed or captured, everyone, from the Jounins to the Academy Students, to the Secret Services to the clerks. The common folk of Otogakure was small, after all, one cannot stay in such a depressing place willingly.

Sarutobi inhaled fresh night's cool air. He let out a contented breath, and one hand spread across the village. "As soon as we demolish the last traces of Sound Village, a new hope can be born. Orochimaru's buildings and facilities will be demolished, we will rebuild everything. No dark memories need to be remembered. Do you not agree, Raido?"

Raido nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

They continued the path a while longer. Raido could not enjoy the silence. "Should I send a message to Jiraiya-sama immediately?"

"There's no rush, and I would rather not have such information fall to dust if the bird should be caught. The Hidden Mist have become adept at such skills. A new Kazekage will be chosen for Sunagakure, and apparently, I, a complete outsider will be included in their council of Kazekage pickers." He chuckled softly. "The Sand is trying too hard to please us."

"Then who do you think should ascend, sir?"

"As I have said, I'm an outsider. I don't know their ninjas, I'm not fit to pick their kage."

"But it is an honour, Hokage-sama, to be granted this grace."

"Indeed."

_Whiz. _One of the bodyguards screamed in pain, before all of his nerves went numb and his blood turned to ice. When he fell on his back and the dust cleared, an icicle protruded from his chest. _Whiz. _Another fell, dead, a sliver of ice through his forehead. _Whiz. _

"Katon! Kajiheki! (Fire Encampment Wall, a variation of the Water Encampment Wall Kakashi used in his first fight with Itachi)" Raido shouted, his fingers clasped into the tiger seal. The sound of an object imbedding in soft flesh could be heard over the roar of fire. Raido turned to his left, only to see Inuzuka Hana fall to the ground, choking. The icicle had punctured one of her lungs. Grief flooded his heart as he watched her eyes roll to the back of her head and foam frothing at her mouth. There was no time to heal her; the Sandaime had to be protected.

"Be firm! The enemy has not passed! Protect the Sandaime!" Raido shouted, joining his teammates to encircle Sarutobi. Meanwhile, the Hokage surveyed the area. There were no traces of traps or genjutsus anywhere. As for his assasinators, they were either extremely good in hiding their killing intent against a Kage, or this hit was strictly non-personal. By instinct, he guessed it was the latter.

"A valiant effort, but futile nonetheless. How can such a weak fire smote my Hyoton attacks?" A voice filled the empty night mockingly.

Suddenly, a black cloak dotted with red clouds materialised in thin air, and touched down onto solid ground. Sarutobi glanced at the rooftops once more, this time, one of them was occupied by a silhoutte. _There are two of them. Black and red clouds. Signature straw hat and ring. _"Be on guard. These are S-ranked criminals, from an unknown status organization-"

"-Akatsuki," the assasin interjected. His voice was as silky as the velvet black sky. "Impressive. You are the first Kage to know who we are. As is expected of the highly acclaimed Sandaime Hokage. Your guard has used, I believe I'm correct, the word 'honour'. It was an honour granting us this mission."

Sarutobi had only half a mind on the assasin's voice. _Sneaky. He used his speech to lure our attention away from his partner. Disappeared to behind us. _His eyes narrowed. There would be only one way they would carry out their hit if there was only two of them. S-ranked criminals weren't dumb. If they fought together, it would be a collaboration of the hokage and his bodyguards, but if they split apart, they would stand a better chance of fulfilling the hit of he was alone and his subordinates distracted. _In other words, the better of the two will fight me. However, how can only two of them hope to accomplish what people before them couldn't? This is suicidal. _

Haku lifted the hat of his head and let it drop to the floor. So far, the plan had been executed perfectly. But a bead of cold sweat still trickled down his back. There were still four bodyguards left; there wasn't any water around. The basis of his advanced bloodlimit, Hyoton, was very limited. Before, he had summoned the water for his attacks, but for a full scale attack, he didn't have the chakra. _The damned bastard better hurry up. These idiots look murderous just cause' I killed two of their precious buddies. _"There is a way to escape from all this, I can spare your lives along with these men who still have long to live, Sandaime. My leader presents two conditions you are to fulfill."

He held out an index finger. "One.

"To amend for disrupting the Akatsuki's plans for the Sound Village, you must present the heads of your Council to us. They are nothing more than blabbering fools out of touch, driven crazy by the three Ninja World Wars and the attacks of the demons. Isn't it better to get rid of them for the sake of your precious Leaf Village?

"Two.

"Out of the one thousand ninja population that Konoha boasts, we are to get ten Jounins and forty Chuunins. Amassing forces has been hard as of late, and this will make up for it. Shouldn't be too hard to comply with, isn't that right, Sandaime?"

Haku smirked at the group. "Is it that hard to decide? The outcome is simple if you reject our terms. With their Hokage dead the village will crumble for at least two weeks, time enough for the Akatsuki, or another village, to gather their forces and successfully take over the village. You know Konoha's status after the Konoha and Sound Invasions, Sandaime."

In a few seconds, the situation escalated so fast, the tension in the air made the Tokubetsu Jounins break out in cold sweat.

Sarutobi's eyes were weighted by his furrowed brow, his gray-blue eyes glittered piercingly with anger. He stared at the ground, as if in deep thought, his shoulders hunched. Haku raised an eyebrow, seemingly unaffected.

Sarutobi looked up, a grave frown on his face. "That isn't enough."

"What?" Haku asked in a low, dangerous voice.

Sarutobi forced a smirk. "If you expect me to betray the trust of Konoha's fire, to betray the will of all who are behind us, you're wrong."

If Raido had been expecting another reaction, it was clearly evident from the stunned look on his face. Grinning ferally, he looked at the Akatsuki member to see his reaction. But Haku's face was impassive. "That's business cleaned up. So sorry to say, Hokage-san, that this ends here. You've chosen death. I grant it."

Metres below, several exploding tags sizzled out. _BOOM. _

Screams cut through the air like a knife. The Tokubetsu Jounin groaned in pain on the ground, riddled with shrapnel. Water gushed out of the broken pipe like a deadly fountain. Haku felt relieved. He was in his elementFlowing through one-handed seals rapidly, Haku opened his mouth in incantation, "Ninpou Hyoton: Sensatsu Suisho! (Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)"

Long senbons of compressed water formed off the gushing water. The one thousand needles surrounded the Tokubetsu Jounin from all angles. For a moment, it hung in the air, and Haku reminisced the time when he would have mourned for their deaths.

The senbons struck all of them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sandaime skidded to a stop, his sandals slick with water. When the tank exploded, he immediately replaced himself with a nearby rubbish bin. The cane-woven basket split apart upon the impact. Knowing that he had landed not more than a few paces from the second assasin, the Hokage hurled a shuriken. Gathering his chakra, he shouted, "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!"

Shocked by the overwhelming number of shuriken, Kazuya reacted out of fear. Electricity tingled through the air, halting the pieces of metal as if through repulsive magnetism. He cursed inwardly. He had revealed his advanced bloodlimit all too soon. A thud sounded behind him, then the fibres of his sleeve ripped apart, revealing a deep gash. "Damn."

Sarutobi watched the Akatsuki cautiously as he emerged from his hiding place. From the hands and built, he could tell that this assasin was no more than thirteen. It reminded him of Orochimaru, or Arashi. To his surprise, the Akatsuki healed the cut in a passing hand. _Medical knowledge…? _

Deciding not to play games like his partner had, Kazuya lifted his straw hat immediately, revealing an uncovered forehead and Sharingan eyes. "An honour to change blows with you personally, Hokage-sama."

The Sandaime hid his surprise well. "Kazuhiko Rukawa. The report showed that you were captured in action. This means to say that you betrayed us on your own will?"

"No, but knowing, I would have," he replied cryptically. Sarutobi frowned. It pained him to kill such a promising Konoha ninja. However, if this was where the boy was heading, there was no other course of action. Even if he had a sneaking suspicion niggling the base of his skull that Kazuhiko Rukawa was disillusioned.

"Eyes of the Uchihas? You are not one of them as far as I know, Rukawa."

" 'Rukawa'? Since when did kages address their subordinates by their given names? It is my mission to kill you, Sandaime, not to fall for your pity-gathering techniques that would work on blond-haird idiots. But even Uzumaki Naruto would be above such tricks," Kazuya retorted calmly. The Hokage didn't need to know anything about him. _Why is he trying to gain time? For back-up? Does he have a mental link for back-up? Shit! Why am I so wound up? It's just a kage! Exactly, damnit!_

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Sarutobi shouted, and a rod, painted red with gold ends, extended from the wet earth. He held it in a defensive stance against Kazuya. "Come."

_A weapon? No, wait, think. _Kazuya thought as he raced forwards, a rough plan forming in his mind. _The Professor… excellent knowledge of jutsus… jutsus… No jutsu will work against him, so I can only use the Sharingan and Raitei. (Lightning Emporer, a name taken from GetBackers)… There is no doubt about it… _

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Three Kazuyas surrounded the Hokage. Sarutobi swiped his rod around him. Then he struck. Kazuya twisted away, the rod rubbing his clothing. Jumping over it, he aimed a sweeping kick at Sarutobi's jaw. In a flash, Sarutobi had switched his grip and slammed the rod into the Shadow Clone's face.

The others were already moving, throwing hard punches and kicks, before dancing out of the rod's reach. Sarutobi could already feel the panting coming on, and the boy was hardly breaking a sweat… Kazuya placed a palm on the Sandaime's rod. "Flash Charge!"

Then something that had never happened before happened. The weapon asorbed the electricity. Taking advantage of Kazuya's momentary lapse, Sarutobi caught him in a sweeping blow, sending him through the wall behind. Rubble fell and plumes of dust rose. Cautiously, Sarutobi made his way forward. A voice rang from within.

"Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"Suiton! Suijinshi no Jutsu! (Water Encampment Wall!)" Sarutobi shouted in defense. Soon after, he performed more handseals. "Suiton! Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

Kazuya, who had leapt above the Water Encampment Wall to impale the Hokage from above, was forced to twist away from the roaring water dragon. Suddenly, it twisted around to head for him again. "What…?! Flash Charge!"

It was a huge gamble that he took, using only one arm against the Suiryuudan which usually broke your bones upon unchallenged contact. Conducting the chakra electricity to the Hokage, the water dragon crashed into his hand, jamming the wrist, elbow, then shoulder, before they splintered.

Even as pain exploded above his web of vision, Kazuya's thoughts were not focused entirely on the blood and agony. His fight with the Hokage was fearsome. _I had expected someone so old to put up less of a challenge, but doubtless, he is the Hokage, above Uchiha Itachi. Only Kamui, or Shisui, would be able to defeat him. Therefore… what would they do in this situation?_

Kazuya twisted towards the Hokage, still trailing high into the night sky. With the Sharingan, he saw the Hokage struggling to recover from the mild shock of the Flash Charge. During his collision with the water dragon, both attacks negated each other, which resulted in Kazuya only injuring one arm, and the Hokage's nerves going haywire. No doubt, the Hokage would be mending his nervous system.

_One… Two… THREE! _Kazuya mentally shouted, and relocated his bones with a jerk. He howled, almost passing out from the pain. Fighting against the creeping darkness, he forced his right arm to clamp over his injured arm, and started pumping chakra into it. _DAMN. DAMN. DAMN. Damn! This hurts. Damn it, my chakra's drained. _Flexing his healed arm, Kazuya drew the katana strapped to his back. It felt leaden, his arms were tired. In normal circumstances, he would have powered down his Sharingan, but he was fighting against a powerful enemy.

Below, the Hokage finally readjusted his nervous system with several bouts of chakra. The attack was no doubt an advanced bloodlimit, and direct contact with it would mean permanent paralysis if not fatal. A shadow passed over his face. Fighting with a former villager was hard, but that was not the cause of the shadow. The Hokage looked up, to see red eyes gleaning in the night, sword flashing, hurtling towards him like a homing grenade.

The Hokage leapt out of the way just in time. Kazuya slammed into the ground, forming cracks in the pavement, his chakra preventing his legs from being smashed to pulp. The blade of his katana had sank into the ground, but no matter. He immediately followed his previous blow with a sweeping slash that caught the Hokage in the shoulder. Not stopping to indulge, Kazuya held his katana and ran forwards, his Sharingans spinning rapidly.

…The Hokage would fake left but go right for his rod…

Kazuya intercepted the Hokage's motion with ease. Sarutobi grunted in surprise, then drew out two curved kunais, both with a slim slit in the middle. Frowning as the Hokage managed to parry his blows, no matter how cleverly placed, Kazuya managed to push him further from his rod.

Sarutobi summoned the pooled chakra in the rod. The ground pulsed. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Enma!"

Kazuya twisted his head around. The rod had turned into a giant ape! A nasty grin stretched its lips apart to reveal two sparkling rows of teeth.

Taking advantage of the Akatsuki's second memontary lapse, Sarutobi utilised his kunais to their best potential. Sliding the katana's thin blade through the slit of one of his kunais, he latched the other kunai's curved tip onto the sword blade. His a sharp twist, he wrenched the weapon out of the Akatsuki's hands.

Watching the monkey called Enma charge at him through the Sharingan, he turned around as the katana was torn from his grip. It clattered a few feet away. The Hokage smiled, then stepped to the side. Spinning around again, Kazuya knew that he was caught in a dead lock just as Enma collided into him. They smashed into the ground. The monkey raised a clawed paw.

_SHARINGAN! _

"Good job, Enma. You came, just in time," Sarutobi praised. The Shodaime had endowed the large ape upon his Chuunin promotion, and since then, it had been the companion that kept him company and saved his hide numerous time. Then his eyes widened in shock when he realised that Enma had not won, that in actual fact the monkey was frozen, and groaning in pain, not jubilation. Miraculously, the Akatsuki operative slid out from between Enma's arms, his face sporting a deep gash and bruise the size of an apple. The whole time, his crimson eyes were locked onto the monkey's. Suddenly Enma spasmed, his back arching into a rigid bow, his face contorted into a silent scream.

… Several pin shaped metal blocks, the size of an entire arm, dug through his flesh. He could feel them grating against his organs. His skeletal frame was cracking…

Kazuya curled his hand into a fist. He then stepped over the ape's regal corpse; blood dripped from where Enma's sharp claws had scratched him. Pain lanced his side where one rib bone had cracked from the collision. Gritting his teeth to sustain conciousness, Kazuya wallowed in tactics. _Now he cannot use his rod or his monkey. Next will be a battle of ninjutsus. _"That was just a demonstration, Hokage-sama. Have you called for reinforcements yet? I seem to recall there was a group of three Chuunins with you, my former teammates, I should believe. Unless you're still as benovelent as your people say. Trust is a very fragile thing, it would be good to have some, but to have blind trust? Are you too infactuated with keeping the world happy, Hokage-sama? It's the Jinchuukri, you can't paint a world with pretty flowers, hn."

_A ninja must never reveal his emotions. _In this aspect, the Hokage successfully kept to this law, not a tear leaked from under his eyelids, though the wrinkles on his face hardened. His eyes darted over the area, an odd premonition befalling the sixty-nine year old. The odd premonition that his fate would be very similar to Enma's.

"Extreme Flash Charge!" Kazuya yelled. The atmosphered was alit with yellow…

"KATON! KARYUU ENDAN! (Fire Dragon Flame Missile, a wall of fire)" Sarutobi shouted, thrusting his head forward. Fire exploded from his mouth like a true Uchiha's. It asorbed the chakra electricity and used the energy to drive itself forward even faster.

Water on the ground evaporated into steam the moment the fires reached it. Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, then flipped through a few one handed seals.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haku faced the Tokubetsu Jounin calmly, the Hidden Mist ANBU training service and Zabuzza-san's teaching methods had been harsh, and he had faced this several times. As long as he could maneuver them into his Demonic Ice Mirrors, all would be well.

It was the man with an eye patch who made the first mistake. Eye Patch saw the Akatsuki's opening and went in for the kill. Stupid. S-ranked criminals do not leave gaping openings for all to see and to be acted on. In two seconds, Haku had struck him with two senbons, rendering his limbs weak and movementless: the neck bone had snapped. Using his forearm, Haku threw his arm around Eye Patch's neck and pointed a kunai at his temple. "Surrender now and I will spare his life! Lives won't be needlessly lost. If you live, at least you'll live to warn your people at home that the Red Dawn is approaching!"

"Shit! Let him go, and we'll spare you!" Raido shouted.

"Dream on, Namaishi," Haku said. It was nigh impossible to overcome all of the A-ranked ninjas. Three would be fine, but five! When there were six of them, only one of them didn't react in time for a Replacement Technique. Doubtless, these were the cream of the small Chuunin crop. _Damn… if they were full-fledged Jounin, I would shit myself senseless… _"I will never die under a few worms, and you should think for your teammates. They have their own lives, fine by me if you don't want yours, but to forsake theirs? You've got to be the worst sort of ninja I've seen."

"You're no saint, Akatsuki. We'll never agree to your terms," Raido said vehemently.

With a swift stroke, the point of the kunai ripped through the skin, then the skull, then the brain. With a crack, Eye Patch was fit for a casket. Letting the kunai fall with its sheath, Haku wiped the fluid and blood from his face. That was what was so messy about big knives and cleavers, it was smelly and dirty. _Four left. _

Haku watched the Tokubetsu Jounin closely. Their eyes were wide and intense, too asorbed with the cruel death of their teammate. The perfect opportunity for his Mizu Bunshin to walk up behind them and peform the Demonic Ice Mirrors. With his kikkaishu crawling underground, Aburami Shibi felt the chakra signature before he saw it. In a puddle of seemingly innocent water, was a Water Clone, who ascended out of its depth, forming one handed seals. "Ninpou Hyoton: Demonic Ice Mirrors Technique!'

Shibi leapt out of the way just in time, but Raido and the rest were trapped inside. Swallowing his anger, he felt his kikkaichu (destruction bugs) die immediately as they tried to leave the ice cage. _Leaving or entering means a certain death. What a frightening Advanced Bloodlimit, the manipulation of ice. He needs a water source for his jutsus, but how to drain all this water pooled around us? Even if my Kikaishu fed on the water, we would not even asorb half of it. None of us are proficient in fire jutsus, except for the Uchiha…_

Before he could come up with a more detailed evaluation of his situation, Shibi found himself face to face with the real Akatsuki operative, while his Mizu Bunshin kept the ice cage intact.

For the first time, he could see the Akatsuki's face clearly. The skin was as fair as a female's, and the eyes were a mixture of green and hazel. The nose was small, but manly enough. A girly male. No, a bishounen. Shibi's face remained hard and serious even when his body was struck with multiple senbons, or when his kikaishu crawled onto Haku's arms.

Haku spun, his sandals slipping across the water. He bent down, his right leg moving up for a roundhouse kick. Shibi deflected the attack with a block that was too weak. His arms were forced apart. Haku kept turning with his initial kick, going for a second roundhouse, catching Shibi solidly in the jaw. As the Aburame rose into the air, Haku delivered his third and final kick, connecting with the stomach.

And the Aburame burst into a thousand kikkaichu.

They encased Haku like a sheet of rain. Shibi landed behind the Akatsuki. There was no negotiation necessary. He closed his eyes and said softly, "Destruction of the Kikkaichu."

The destruction bugs enveloped the Akatsuki, then sank their teeth into him before proceeding to clean his innards of flesh and bone. The Akatsuki, however, was a Mizu Bunshin.

Since when did the Akatsuki swap places with his Mizu Bunshin? Shibi did not know, because the moment he turned around his neck was a field of senbons, piercing every vital point in his neck. _Whiz. Whiz. Whiz. _His glazed and lifeless eye reflected the dead bodies in the Demonic Ice Mirrors for a moment, before he dropped to the ground.

Haku released his ultimate trumpcard, and water splashed to the ground. The eyes of the bodyguards were wide and dilated. He gripped his heart wonderously. "I do not feel the guilt I have always felt." It was a gift from Zabuzza-san, for him to kill until he could reach his saviour at the end of the road.

A jolt of pain sliced up his arm. Haku clutched it, groaning with the action. "Damn!" he breathed, looking at his torn skin. The Aburame's destruction bugs had managed to get something off him before they all died, slaughtered like the animals they were. Haku stopped in mid-grimaced, both shocked and impressed at his cold-bloodedness again. A sadistic pleasure tickled his chest temptingly. He would exact his revenge now, if the Uzumaki was here…

A hand clutched his ankle in a vice-like grip. Goosebumps rippling through his pale skin, Haku looked down instinctively, and regretted the sight of the marble-like quality of the face's skin, the bluish lips, the trickling blood. The man was half dead, but his resolve was stronger than his body.

"Not yet!" Raido breathed. The basic principle to bodyguarding was ingrained into their minds every day for the first month of their training: _Principal before Self._ He had an estimate of ten seconds before his body would cave in. _Ten… _Raido jerked his hand back, dragging Haku down. His other hand flipped out a poison-tipped kunai. _Nine… _He leapt to his feet, and while holding onto Haku's ankle, he ran forwards in a crouch, his kunai held high. _Eight… _A war cry tore from his lips, spraying blood and spittle. The Akatsuki landed two blows to his chest. Raido ignored them, forcing his kunai downwards. _Seven… _Haku took hold of Raido's wrist. The dying man was strong in his final moments. The kunai kept coming. _Six… _With an almighty sound of crapitus, Haku crushed Raido's wrist. The kunai was released, harmlessly dropping into the water… _Five… _Haku drew his knees to his chest then kicked out, catching Raido in the gut. He stood up. The man was failing, his system was already in shock. _Four… _Haku's lips formed words. Raido raised his hands sluggishly... _Three… Ice like thread trussed him like a chicken… Haku… snapped his fingers, and the ice cut… hurt like hell… Tw-_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

His skin was slick with sweat even though the Karyuu Endan was metres away from his person. Kazuya flashed through handseals, beads of sweat trickling down his body. "Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Kazuya felt his chakra drain, and knew that it was a huge gamble sacrificing two thirds of his remaining chakra. The clones continued up on another set of handseals with him. Together, their voices combined into one sentence: "Suiton! Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

Three dragons spiralled through the air, then hurtled at the oncoming fire. For a moment, fire overpowered water as it turned into steam, then the chakra in the Water Dragons overpowered the single Fire Dragon and penetrated it like water, but dissipated the moment it did. Kazuya took advantage of the opening, charging forward. A sound of a thousand birds crackled. "Chidori!"

Meanwhile, his brain struggled to compute the information the Sharingan was sending him, then he realised that the Hokage was waiting for him to come! He was neither clone nor illusion… _Does he realise he can't win? _All of sudden, Sarutobi's hand shot up and interlocked with Kazuya's Chidori laden fingers. "What?"

"Jutsu Sho! (Technique: Neutralize, used by the Third Hokage, effectively cancelling any jutsu as long as the chakra is of the same amount. Like in fma, equivalent exchange)" The sound of a thousand birds was silenced suddenly.

The Hokage then thrust a kunai, point blank, at Kazuya's chest area. Expecting it with his Sharingan, Kazuya twisted to the side, feeling it cut his shoulder as it bypassed. The bloody Hokage wasn't letting go of his hand! A small smirk formed on his lips. "Flash Charge!"

Direct voltage travelled up the Hokage, worse than pain. Neural fluids gushed out from his nose and ears, yellow because it was mixed with the bloog of the the ruptured brain arteries. Blood pooled out from dilated eyes. His entire body was charred, his feet wrecked with third-degree burns. It was obvious that the old man was as cold as ice.

Still, mission descriptions were the laws that governed their lives, the Akatsuki partnership was to present the Hokage's head to their client. Kazuya drew a kunai out from his kunai holster, and lengthened the blade using chakra, making it sharp enough to severe the neck. Kazuya closed his eyes in obvious distaste, for he did not revel in the task.

With the tiniest of grimaces, he slashed. Blood spurted like a fountain, smashing against his face and clothes.

Kazuya let the body drop to the ground and blood flow from the stump. Taking out a fold of thick, black cloth, he went over to the severed head and wrapped it like he would a bento box. After that, he took out a small slip of paper, with markings of a seal within. Wiping his thumb free of the Hokage's thumb, he drew his own blood by biting it. The blood trailed in the air, then landed across the seal. Placing the Sandaime's wrapped head over the seal, he let the seal asorb it. Acting as if he had not just locked up a severed head in a piece of paper, Kazuya folded in and placed it in his inner pocket.

Behind him, the Raido ninja burst into pieces, drenching Haku in blood as well.

Collecting both of their straw hats, Kazuya fit his over his head, before handing Haku his. Then his vision turned hazy, spiralling, edges of darkness rushing up to claim him…

…Haku caught Kazuya as he collapsed.

A number of footsteps alerted him to the presence of several someones the Akatsuki was particularly interested to meet. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto's eyes beheld no recognition, their gazes fluttering from the dead ninjas to their cold-blooded murderers.

Something in the Uchiha appeared to snap and he charged out like a maniac, the Chidori crackling in his hand. Haku held out a hand, fingers open, palm down, as if to reach out for the Uchiha. _Come. _The gesture said tauntingly.

Then the S-ranked operatives disappeared in a wisp of grey smoke, the tendrils clinging to the ground.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AUTHOR'S NOTES: While I have drastically modified this chapter, I still tried to change some points about my writing, successful or not, I'd appreciate some hint about it. If you were hoping for some major kick-ass bone breaking, I'm sorry, but some elements have to be kept away if I'm still writing about ninja. To keep up with this, I had to overcome a major writing block (luckily I found the cause of it).

**Why is Kazuya S-class? In the earlier chapters you only potrayed him as a B or A-rank ninja. **When Team Seven was training for those few weeks, so did Kazuya. Of course, a few weeks will not make an A-ranked ninja S-class, who can defeat multiple A-ranks. Don't forget that Kazuya is not Rukawa, who has various mental limitations, nor that Kazuya is now an Akatsuki member with a ring, where Akatsuki's can draw power from (sort of like the National Alchemist's pocket watch in FMA).

**Why did the Sandaime lose to a mere twelve year old, even if S-class? **He is a sixty-nine year old. I'm not discriminating against age, but the reflexes do slow down. And, if you compare his stats with Rukawa's in Chapter: Advantage, you'll realise that he loses in terms of speed and intelligence, so Kazuya does have advantages. And if I placed Itachi against Sandaime, the outcome will be even more obvious. Time waits for no man…

**Haku freaking killed those Tokubetsu Jounin easily! Why? **Haku is not a Mary Sue. If you compare him to what Zabuzza has said about him in the canon, you will find that Haku is a Hunter-Nin (of the Mist with their life-and-death genin acceptance exams), has encountered such experiences before. What's more, Zabuzza said that Haku's trump jutsu has never failed, and that very jutsus lets him travel between mirrors at the speed of light.

There's a possibility that by answering the above three questions that I've reduced my chance of a review, but if you had an urge to click the 'review' button and flame me senseless, or give a decent comment, I'd still appreciate it all them same. I just felt I had to explain the points that my writing can't cover.

Thanks for reading, and please review!


	23. Chapter Twenty Two Kasuikan

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

PLEASE READ: As you know, I've changed Chapter 21, so the story will take a different turn. As I'm writing another story (a project for school), it's hard juggling both very different stories and I'm sort of battling writer's block.

Special thanks to **Sn1ck3rD00dl3** and **Edengrave **for the reviews- you make my day.

**Chapter 22 Kasuikan**

"Damn it!" Sasuke swore. His eyes passed over the mutilated corpses, resting on the Sandaime's decapticipated body, knowing that it would be seared into his memory and haunt him for life, as had every thing else. A cold fury gripped his heart, one that he never knew he could muster for the Hokage. Once he had cleared the clouds of anger, bitter grief rained down on him. The Chidori in his hand retreated into a low buzz, then nothing.

A blur of orange shot past him.

Eyes widening in surprise, Sasuke reacted almost immediately. His hand caught the hem of Naruto's shirt, but at the speed and strength of Naruto's charge, the shirt only slipped out of his grip. A deep rumble resonated within the Uzumaki, and he kept going.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted, catching Naruto in a tackle. They tumbled across the blood-sprayed earth. Naruto struggled. "Let me go!" He reared back a fist, then lashed out, striking Sasuke across the jaw. Jumping to his feet, Naruto continued forward towards the Sandaime.

Sakura caught Naruto with both hands, gripping his forearms.

"Naruto," she said softly. "Calm down."

"They-they're gone," Naruto whispered back. "He's gone. It's our fault, we didn't make it in time."

Sakura did not have anything to say to that. Twenty minutes ago, they had been ten miles West of the Sandaime, way past their limit of two miles. _We basically fouled up. Even the war didn't teach us anything. The Akatsuki Incident didn't make us any better. We should have known better than to be so careless. We… It's our fault the Hokage died. _

"Keep your cool, both of you," Sasuke ordered. He smothered the impending bruise on his jaw. His mind was racing. "It's not over yet. The Akatsuki could be within the area. We have to search them out and kill them while they're still here and severely injured."

Naruto forced himself to stop trembling. "They took his head. How could they take his head?"

"Proof mission completion. Breathe, Naruto, breathe. You have to save all of your emotions until when we find those two murderers. Come on, buckle up, Sakura. Naruto, take point, sniff them out. I'll do a quick search and find you later," Sasuke guided.

Naruto looked up, only to find Sasuke reflecting his own stricken face. Sasuke was keeping his calm for them, for the team. So could he. "Okay. See you in five, or we'll turn back."

"Got it."

Leaving his raven haired teammate behind, Naruto tuned chakra to his nose, eyes, and ears. _Kyuubi, I need to know where the two bastards went!_

_**Got it, kid. Don't get lost though, knowing you.**_

_Not the best of times to insult me, fox, so shut up_, Naruto thought as he raced past the buildings. The scents were familiar, he was close to identifying them, but the smells were masked by overwhelming waves of blood and even more blood, and burned his nasal senses with their coppery tang.

Sakura was following Naruto when he abruptly skidded to a stop. So she asked, "What is it?"

"I can't smell them anymore, and unless they know the Hiraishin Jutsu (Lightning God Technique of the Yondaime), I doubt they'll be far off. Even teleportation won't take them so far without leaving a trace," Naruto said with what they had identified as his wizened personality. It was monotonous but worth listening to, coming from the loudmouth Uzumaki. He placed an ear to the ground, then started. "There's an underground city! Here, below!"

"What?" Sakura exclaimed, then felt the floor with her hands. Unusual tremors racked the earth. Even in the Ninja Academy, underground cities were not unheard of, even if difficult to find. Four years ago Konoha had finally found theirs and made sure that there would never be another underground city. They existed in every country, and housed criminals and the like.

"They have to be in there, quick, find the entrance. It has to be somewhere, anywhere!"

The two Chuunins looked around frantically. Sakura skimmed her hand for abnormalties in the ground while Naruto checked the bins and houses. On his fifth house, a signature scent filled his nostrils. Flecks of blood stained the floor. Squatting beside the stains, he traced with a finger… there was a large square crack in the ground, and a hidden handle. "Sakura, here!"

Sakura entered the house. "Found it?"

"Yeah, it's a trapdoor. Sasuke?"

"No sign of him. It's been four and a half minutes."

Naruto growled. "The black-haired bastard better be here in thirty seconds."

Half a minute passed, but they decided to wait half more. Finally, Sasuke showed up. "Sorry, I had to secure the area. Forensics will want a look."

"There's a freaking underground city just below and the Akatsuki have gone down. This is the entrance."

"Underground… city?"

Naruto nodded his head, then he lifted the trapdoor and jumped in after his teammates. The sight was breathtaking. It was as if someone had sunk the city and built ground over it as a sky. They were standing on a ledge, looking down at two miles worth of buildings and people. At the side, a flight of well-worn stone staircases ran along the carved wall downwards, spiralling to a stop two metres at the end. While the above was dark, like standing in the night, the ground level of this unknown city was lke standing on a star. Light rods, lamps, and candles glowed, wires connecting electrical devices. Large tubes ran over head for excellent ventilation. Buildings of simple brick design lined the crowded streets. Billboards and Bingo charts were set up everywhere. Missing nin or wandering samurai ate at streetside shops, gobbling dumplings and cheap ramen.

Getting hold of their emotions, Team Seven split paths and began their search for the two mysterious Akatsuki operatives.

Eight hours later, Team Seven believed that they had combed every single square inch of the city.

To no avail.

Not a single trace or rumour of two black cloaked individuals, no one had spared them a glance. Everything had been the same, looking at countless strangers bypass, never committing to memory. It was like the Akatsuki was a part of nobody's life, no one but theirs. Why did they have to intrude on their normal routines? It was selfish, arrogant, everything the world "humble" hated.

Of course, the three Chuunins had come across several promising leads. For example, one of the hospitals hinted of the knowledge of the two, but they did not give any hints as to where the two had went.

Not even when Naruto had shouted at them. Not when Sakura glared at them with a hateful eye. Not a flinch as Sasuke drew a kunai and threatened to rip their crotches out. Nothing. Next were a few of the patients, but no bribe could break their cold, steel mouths. _Respect our privacy, and we'll respect yours. _

They forced themselves up the stairs that was once hope. It seemed long, winding, scandalous.

They went back to the site where the Sandaime had been assasinated. The scene was untouched, apparantly Sound Village was still foul of Orochimaru's stench that ants and flies did not inhabit the area.

"We have to split up. Konoha needs to be informed, but someone has to guard Hokage-sama," Sasuke said as soon as they had forced isotonic powders into their mouths and washed it down with water. His mind and heart was still sore from the loss that constantly nagged at their minds. It was right before them.

"No."

"I know this isn't the time, but be reasonable," Sasuke said glaring at the speaker.

"No!"

Sasuke took a step back. "Yes."

"No, you can't," Sakura said. "We have to band together. What if the Akatsuki come back?"

_She's scared. If we separate, there's a chance we'll be attacked and die. I know… _Sasuke turned away. "Face reality, Sakura, they're long gone. We missed them, we did. They won't be back, even if you want them to. I'm going, and I'll reach Konoha as soon as possible. They'll send in troops, but guard the perimeter anyway. I reckon only bandits will come in here, since everyone presumes that Otogakure is under Konoha control."

Naruto looked at Sasuke oddly. The Uchiha's mannerisms had changed drastically. Actually, his moods swung like a monkey on crack. _Is it denial, or his way of dealing with things? _Something caught in his throat. He could not say anything. So the Number One Hyperactive Loudmouth Ninja remained silent.

Sasuke raised his hand in partial wave, then he set off, his sandals slapping against the ground like the tolls of a death knell.

Naruto tugged Sakura's skirt. She looked at him, eyes searching for an answer. _He'll be back. _She sank to her knees, masking her face with a hand. "Wha-what if he never does?"

Naruto looked over at the Sandaime's corpse. Something was threatening to burst within him, like an unfounded growl. His heartbeat was hammering so loud against his ribcage he hated it. Why was he alive, when the old man was dead?

"Don't give up yet."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun passed over the face of earth and slipped through the edges. Kakashi stood as night fell over in velvet drapes. His hardened black eyes were filled with grief, and his stoic yet nonchalant features looked sad. "Obito, another day has passed. I just came back from an A-ranked mission, if only we could do it together. We could have met up against Rock-nin together again. I'm sorry I had to leave you out; Jiraiya made me do it with the ANBUs.

"Hey, I've had this odd feeling in my gut lately," he said, suddenly animated. "It's this untangable feeling, like when my father died."

He sighed. "But then, life is always about reaching the end, isn't it?" Kakashi let out a low chuckle. "It's dark now, Obito. I have to get back home to complete my paperwork for the mission. Don't worry, it's a real bore and you aren't missing out anything. I'll be back tomorrow."

Nodding slightly, Kakashi walked away, his hand finding its way to a small orange book.

Even in the night, the streets of Konoha were unpeaceful. It still rang with the reconstruction of damaged buildings, left behind by the Konoha Invasion. He passed by a few alleys, where boys were having fun with the smaller prawns of society. Many children who weren't ninjas had turned beggars overnight when their parents had been killed. Currently, Chuunins were coming up with an Lost Children Assistance Plan, but it was still underway.

Kakashi strolled past the Interrogations Unit. Screams and more screams. He shivered involuntarily, thought the thought of Orochimaru howling in pain brought a cruel smile to his lips. Several people eyed the silver-haired Jounin warily, with his orange pornographic book open in his hand.

_BOOM. _A thunder-like crack snapped through the air. Kakashi looked up immediately. The sound was somewhere due north. Nothing. The night was still and silent. Shaking his head, he decided to investigate the noise on morrow's morning.

That night, when Kakashi slipped under his covers for a good night's rest, the screaming started.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakashi flung himself out of the window, grabbing his black ANBU cloak with him. Night in Konoha was cold, everything fell in layers of heavy breeze. Even so, every villager had been roused out of their comfortable beds. There was still screaming, and slowly, a mob had formed at the Hokage's Office.

Torches were lit, people were chanting. They wanted answers. Kakashi slouched behind the massive throng, then gazed up at the Hokage Monument, where a huge crack scarred the gigantic replica of the Hokage's face.

"What happened to Sandaime-sama?" "Daddy, what's wrong?" "Don't cry." "There's something wrong, what's happened to the Hokage?"

Kakashi cast a lazy eye about the crowd, but his furrowed brows betrayed his apprehension. As far as he was concerned, the Hokage had gone on a mission to sign ownership rights of Otogakure with Rice Field's daimyo._ There are professionals on that team. Raido, Shibi-san, they are one of the best tokubetsu Jounin we've had the fortune to have. _All the more the worry. An odd smile graced his lips as recognition reached his eyes. _So was the Yondaime_, he mused. The infamous Konoha prodigy had died in a single battle when he was in his prime.

Clasping on his cloak, Kakashi walked away from the confused mob. Even though he wanted answers, they would come when he needed to know. For now, a horrible thought had crossed his mind, a thought that comprised of three Chuunins that he had gained acquaintance of by chance. Team Seven had been ordered to escort the Sandaime to Otogakure and back. If anything happened to the Hokage, would happen to them.

Kakashi continued to walk down the streets hurriedly towards the courier office.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

… _Last mile…_

Five minutes passed. Sasuke threw himself through the last few steps, managing to draw out his identification papers before he collasped at immigrations station.

Seconds later, Sasuke woke to the smell of hot sake; his father used to drink it. Ever since he was five, Sasuke had turned to taking in the sights and smells that reminded him of his parents. It was his own form of comfort. _Father…?_

He opened his eyes. He was in a medic tent, a warm scented candle was burning in its holder, but not masking the damp muskiness of old tent canvas. A cup of the hot sake was brought in front of his line of vision. "Drink this, Uchiha, it'll help. You just collasped down there, for a second we thought it was another invasion. It's like you ran all the way here from the sound."

The piece of china halted at his lips. Memories of everything flooded back. Draining the cup, Sasuke looked at the Chuunin and said, "I need to speak to Hatake Kakashi, now."

The Chuunin looked taken aback. "Hatake Kakashi? He came by here just before you dropped in. Went off again." He swirled the sake in the bottle calmly. "You need rest, Uchiha, calm down and get some sleep. If you need to contact him, I can send a courier bird after him right now. What's the message."

Rolling off the futon, Sasuke snatched the sake bottle and drained its contents then ran out of the tent again. _I need to find Kakashi. Pass the message. To Kakashi. I need to find Kakashi. _

Launching himself down the road, Sasuke felt the cramps and exhaustion the sake had numbed earlier minutes later. He tripped and fell to the ground. When he tried to get up, he merely rolled over onto his back. Helpless, Sasuke called out desperately, "Kakashi!"

Seconds passed. Nothing, then- "Sasuke! What happened? Where are the others?"

"… Sandaime-sama has died, Kakashi… he, he… the Akatsuki killed him and them. … Sakura and Naruto are still there. The Akatsuki killed them when we weren't around. It's us, Kakashi, you have to go get them… if not the bastards might kill them," Sasuke panted.

The boy was obviously out of control. His eyes were wide with fear, as if he was alive only because anxienty existed within him. Kakashi analysed the situation, the he said, "Sasuke, I'll create a clone who'll bring you away from Konoha, for now. I'll send Naruto and Sakura to you later. For now, I have to go back and contact Jiraiya-sama and hopefully gather some troops and we'll be in Otogakure a.s.a.p."

"Wait, wait. Otogakure has a small underground city, full of missing nin and the like… Have to… get rid of… them," Sasuke said. Kakashi seemed to understand after a few moments, and nodded to show it. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

The Kakashi-clone picked the exhausted Uchiha up, and Kakashi ran back to Konoha. Sasuke looked up at the Kakashi-clone. "Why can't I go to Konoha? If there's any punishment, I'll bear it with full responsibility. I don't want my teammates to get banished."

The clone shook his head patiently and said, "No, the villagers will kill you on the spot. I've seen it before. I believe the 'other I' has other plans for you, but I just don't know it."

Closing his eyes, Sasuke nodded his head, then slipped back into a long sleep. _Darkness is comforting…_

They travelled long and hard, the clone speeding above the canopy as if air resistance was insignificant. Even though he was unconnected to his maker, he could still feel the pain of loss of the Sandaime, Sarutobi Sandaime, who had lost his given name when he took up the mantle of Hokage.

It hurt. Just hurt. It was painful to stop the urge for the want to cry, but he curbed it. _Tears are an addiction, harmful and abusive. It will break any man_, Kakashi recited to himself.

The next day, Kakashi-clone brought Sasuke to Kasuikan, just next to Lightning Country. It was manned by two ninja but mostly commoners. Criminals often used it to illegally immigrate from the Rai to the Leaf, or the Leaf to the Rai at random. Missing nin rarely dropped in because of its unattractive financial outlook, but it was still a shady place, littered with pubs, nighthouses, brothels, slave trade houses, and orphanages. The perfect spot for wanderers who wanted somewhere where the could live, unprosecuted.

It was the unfortunate birthplace of Aikawa Kazuya.

It was late noon when Sasuke woke up in a bed with yellowed sheets. The splitting headache ordered him to sleep, but as his senses distinguished the pungent odor of puke, saliva, blood, (semen), and the like, he was unable to sleep. He cranked his head painfully to the left. On the table was a fresh set of clothes, some money, now-cold food and sake. The Kakashi-clone had disappeared. A cold shower refreshing his senses, Sasuke dried out his soiled clothes on the floor and gorged down his food. A note was left beside the table, and it read:

_Sasuke,_

_Kakashi here. Don't leave the room without a weapon, if not you could get picked off by a slave trader and sold off to the Lightning before I get back. That's right, sorry I dumped you in such a terrible place, but it was the nearest. This is Kasuikan. Watch your pocket._

_I will send Naruto and Sakura to you a.s.a.p. Don't worry, just wait._

_Don't leave Kasuikan._

Tucking the note into his pocket, Sasuke went on to demolish the lunch set on the table for him. It was less than satisfactory, but he could deal with it. _I wish Naruto and Sakura was here, now. _Making sure that his weapons pouch was securely attached to his belt, Sasuke proceeded to explore the streets of the unknown village.

It was revulsive. Orphans with mutilated limbs lined the streets like bushes, holding out empty bowls or cups. They had used, or been forced to use, various acids and chemicals to make them look as piteous as possible, but no one on the streets had a trace of sympathy. Several beggars were fighting over the few scraps one villager had scraped off his plate on the second floor window. One of the children approached him, looking up with wide, innocent eyes. "Please, sir?"

Sasuke stared at him, then reached into his pocked and fished out an energy bar. Money would do no good here, it would probably be stolen or cheated of. Flashing a wide grin, the child revealed decaying teeth before running away in case Sasuke decided to grab him off to the slave houses.

There was an odd stench in the air, and when Sasuke went to investigate, he realised that corpses were left in dark alleys to decompose. Worst still, the sick and dying were left there. Their cries were like the choir of the damned. Forcing himself to walk faster, Sasuke went into the inner city. There were only a few shops. Two shops selling drugs, alchohol and other what nots. One tiny foodplace crammed with people and smoke, and one provisions shop.

There were no real houses, but rather brothels and inns where the lowlifes lived. It was like a place for cheap sex and other entertainment.

Sasuke came to a stop at a white-washed building, with a steady line of men waiting impatiently. The building was noisy, filled with the cries of children and the sound of caning, force feeding, and the like. Watching silently, Sasuke watched little kids, aged four to nine being led out in the same dun white uniforms.

He called one of the men on the line, who only replied brutishly. "What is it, you lonely bastard? There's enough space in the world."

"Not for me. Tell me, what is this place?"

The man scoffed. "An orphanage, bastard…. And this is for interrupting me!" He threw a punch. Moving out of the way, Sasuke easily caught the wrist and lashed out, catching the man with his knee.

"I wasn't interrupting anything, idiot," Sasuke said to the wheezing half-life, and walked away.

Then he came to a stop at a wired fence with rusty barbs at the top. An old, slashed sign had somehow survived the abuse, and Sasuke could only guess the words printed on it. "Tres…. Trespassers not atoned… allowed. Tresspassers not allowed beyond this border." He was near Lightning Country? Sasuke turned around, anger building up in him. So this was the small village he was stuck in. It was hopeless, there was nothing else to explore and he didn't want to see it anymore. He was better off huddled in his room.

Tracing his footsteps, Sasuke was on his way to his inn when a crowd caught his attention. Curious, he went up to the front. The people were auctioning something. _I could do with a few more weapons. _A woman walked on stage. _What's she carrying? _

"Freshly caught whore from Lightning Country! Look at her ass, it's that big! She's only seventeen, so you'll have at least fifteen years of personal fun and entertainment! Starting price: Fifty!'

Sasuke glared at the announcer. He wished that he could do anything at all, to rescue that woman, and all of the slaves standing at the back. _Then what? _There was nothing he could do. _Not even a living weapon of Konoha. _

Dismally, he went back to his room without event.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's been more than two weeks now," Naruto said. The stench of blood and decomposition had driven the two Chuunins away from the battle site, and they were currently monintoring the trapdoor to the underground. Evidently, the rogues inside were staying in to avoid the Leaf ninjas ever since the Sound Invasion had begun, but there was always the chance that they might've decided that it was the day to get out for some fresh air.

Sakura cupped her elbows ruefully, shaking her head. "Nothing could've happened. Normal travelling time is around fifteen days there and back. Sasuke must've had difficulty mobilising troops."

"Easy for you to say, Sakura," Naruto said. "If Sasuke doesn't come back in four days, we move out."

"I know. You don't have to keep repeating it. You've been doing it for the past fifty hours."

Naruto sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Nevermind," Sakura said. And they lasped into silence.

"Uzumaki Naruto! Haruno Sakura!"

Their heads snapped up. Naruto leapt to his feet and rushed out of the house at the familiar voice, only to be met with the stench of stale blood. Calming down and putting on a mask of indifference, Naruto said, "Yo, Kakashi-san. You're late, as usual." He nodded to the mass of ninjas behind the silver-haired Jounin. "That be your army, Kakashi? Sakura's in the house, she'll show you the entrance."

Kakashi nodded at Naruto's hurry. "Thanks. Men! Head in, kill everyone on sight! These are missing-nin, we don't need info from backstabbers! Let forensics do that!"

"Hai!" The ninjas roared as one. All that was left was a small team of ANBU donning white cloaks. Medic nins. Naruto greeted them, then said, "Hokage-sama is at the back over there. There hasn't been a trace of the bastards who did it yet, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi nodded. "I know, Sasuke told me."

Sakura came up beside Naruto. "Where's Sasuke now?"

"I sent a clone to lead him to Kasuikan. It's one of the sub-villages of Fire Country, just at the border between Rai Country. You'll want to be careful, because recently the Rai Country has claimed the No Man's land to themselves."

Sakura nodded. "Is Sasuke okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. He was just exhausted when I found him," Kakashi said. Biting his thumb, Kakashi slammed the trickle of blood into the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Naruto's eye twitched at the tiny pug dog with cute clothes. "…"

Kakashi grinned sheepishly. "Pakkun, send the two gakis to Kasuikan, a.s.a.p."

The pug dog growled. "Kakashi, you woke me from me sleep to be a stupid delivery tube?"

"Aw shucks, it's not that bad, Pakkun," Kakashi said.

Pakkun growled. "Whatever." He cast a sideways glance at Naruto and Sakura. "Come on, if you can catch up."

Sakura sighed. _It's going to be a long journey._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

… _Looking at them is a relief. Four faces. I'm running, we're smiling. All of us need one another, we'll never abandon the other. It's become my lifes passion. We come to a stop and sit on the grass. It's on the hill top overlooking Konoha. We've just come back from another boring D-ranked mission, but it was good to be together. All of us know that._

_I take the bread Sasuke's holding out. He was in charge of rations this time round. He grins at me._

_I frown._

_That grin is… malicious. His eyes turn red, as does everything around me. Alight in a vicious fire. To my horror, I behold nothing, but I stare into the face of the monster. He leers at me with his red eyes. His teeth are razor sharp. His burning orange hair casts agony within me._

_Uchiha Shisui plunges his hand into my chest, which erupts in volcanoes of pain. Everything turns pitch black, a sick yellow. He draws out something, I don't know it, and yet I do. My soul. He has me. The monster has me…_

Kazuya awoke with a start. The thunderstorm outside was striking drearily in the dreadful night. The half-extinguished candle flickered softly. Taking up the bottle of sake beside him, Kazuya ignored the bouts of pain from his barely healed wounds and downed the alchohol. It burned, like the vicious fire. A flash of a horrendous image.

Then it was gone, for Kazuya had fallen asleep again, to relish in his beautiful, terrible dreams.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading this, please leave a review!


	24. Chapter TwentyThree Weasel Versus Snake

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Simple as that. Neither do I own the works of Stephen Leather who inspired the outcome of this chapter.**

This chapter is dedicated to** Edengrave **and** sn1ck3rD00dl3 **for the reviews.

Warning: Interrogation scenes.

**Chapter Twenty Three- Weasel versus Snake**

Konohamaru fingered the red paper lantern, then blew the candle and tore it off. Reverently holding back tears, he replaced the lantern with a white one. He was wearing black, as was every other villager of the Leaf. Joss sticks and incense was burning, ashes spiralling to the air in half-lazy circles. There was a lot of moaning, a lot of crying.

Why had his grandfather died? The Elder, Koharu, had informed the village that "the Hokage had been assasinated by criminals". Criminals! Konohamaru didn't believe it. No way had his grandfather, the mightiest kage of all time, been felled by a couple of plundering robbers. Konohamaru moved onto the next lantern. It was a slow process. You adjusted the ladder, climbed up, and switched lantern, then climbed down and moved the ladder. One by one.

In Konohamaru's mind, his grandfather had to live on and on forever, climbing out of wars as heroes, ruling over even the samurai. He was the best! No way had he been killed by a couple of rogue bandits. And wasn't there escorts? Word was that "they too have been slaughtered". Slaughtered? They were the elite, not some common horse for the slaughterhouse!

Konohamaru realised that his fingers were shaking so bad he couldn't even touch the lantern. The red of the lantern was the same color as the Hokage's ceremonial hat. It sparked emotions. "Ji-san! You… you liar! You said that you would watch Naruto nee-san become the Godaime, then me become the Rokudaime!

"Liar!

"We made a promise!

"Exchanged spits!"

Iruka watched from behind a pillar, his hands shoved sadly into his pockets. He too donned black mourning clothing, and reeked of joss and ash. "Naruto… be safe."

"Sad, isn't it?" Someone said from behind.

Iruka tilted his head to look at the speaker. He looked at Anko. He wasn't familiar with Mitarashi, other than she was a pretty infamous Tokubetsu Jounin for the wrong reasons. "Yeah."

Anko continued speaking. "It's only the young ones who remember how to cry in the end. But time passes, and soon they'll forget, and they'll be left envying the next generation."

"Ah," Iruka voiced. Deep down, he was remembering that day, a year ago, on Graduation Day. Night really, the thing happened in the night, then extended to the next dawn. Naruto had cried too. Tears of joy, or sorrow, Iruka couldn't decipher. Did Naruto still cry? "Mitarashi-san, when will the funeral start?"

Anko looked at the moon. "Nine hours left. I'd better get going though, Ibiki wanted me to go down to Interrogations for some matter. That guy is full of crap, but he's still a superior. Chin up, Umino-san. You've gotta hold it up for the innocent brats."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jiraiya tapped his chin. "Sarutobi, you idiot."

Someone knocked on the door. "Enter!"

The knob turned, and Kakashi stepped through the doorway. The silver-haired Jounin sported a few minor cuts and bruises, but major patch up with the bandages. His uniform was caked with blood. "Jiraiya-sama. The raid was successful. The city was cleared. No POW to clog up our jammed jails. As for the forensics report, it's definitely the work of S-ranked professionals, they say. I'll give them a call if you wan't to take a look?"

"Thanks," Jiraiya sighed. "Ah, it just feels empty knowing Sarutobi's gone."

"…yeah. He was a good guy."

"As innocent as a kage can get, eh?"

Kakashi chuckled bitterly. "As for the kids, I've sent them off the Kasuikan. This way the Council won't have them for a few weeks tops. What do you plan to do?"

"I'll set off immediately. Sarutobi never liked funerals, anyway. I'll spare his soul the torture. I'm meeting the kids, whether they like it or not, hell, sign it off as an S-ranked mission. It'll look good on the report."

"S-ranked?"

Jiraiya grinned. "What d'you expect of a find-the-Godaime mission? It won't be that dangerous, I guarantee."

Kakashi's eyebrows disappeared behind his head protector. "They've decided."

"No," Jiraiya said firmly. His expression darkened. "I'm not giving them the pleasure of having a puppet. Only kami knows what Koharu has been trying to do ever since the Nidaime chose Sarutobi over her or her chubby hubby, damn it. Tsunade's the only one for the job, don't you think?"

"My blessings, if you need them, sir," Kakashi joked weakly.

"Ha. Ha. Take over for a while, will you? It won't be long. Five months, tops. Six if we go to the onsen. Don't worry, you need a break, and the Council will do some stuff for show, so don't worry about presenting yourself," Jiraiya said.

Kakashi's eyes bulged. "What the -!"

"Good luck, Kakashi," Jiraiya snickered, and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Damn, he's had me all this while… 

Jiraiya snickered behind the door of the Hokage's office. If Kakashi opened the door, so be it. He straightened up, clearing his throat. Time to look presentable. Jiraiya scratched his butt. _With the Akatsuki business, I can't leave Uzumaki Naruto out in the open for too long. I can leave in a day, if I can present my case to Koharu properly. The stupid hag might clear me off as an S-ranked missing nin. Hag. _A flash of memory passed his vision. Jiraiya gulped visibly. Mumbling something about "cleaning boards", "hags", and "violence", he set off in the general direction of Kakashi's Rakuen.

_No harm calming myself before meeting Koharu._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orochimaru sat on the white foldable plastic chair. He was dressed in a clean white uniform, hiding the month of bruises and cuts that mottled his body. A minute later a healer guarded by one team of ANBU.I (ANBU Interrogations Department), stepped in and healed the surface and internal wounds. Nodding to the team, she watched as they pinned him to the ground, then pulled a syringe and inserted it into his neck. It injected a chemical that surpressed a ninja's chakra and physical power. Orochimaru struggled helplessly for a moment, then went limp, and the ANBU.I roughly threw him back onto the chair. The chair rocked backwards, then fell forward with a _thump_. Satisfied, the healer and her guards exited through the grey metal door, just beside the one-way mirror. She nodded at her superior, and said, "Ibiki-san, he's at a clear functioning level, but his skills should not exceed that of an Academy student."

Ibiki smirked. _Orochimaru, a helpless doll? _"Good work, you're dismissed. Leave it to us."

"Yes, sir!" She saluted, and followed the ANBU.I team out through the second door. Ibiki lifted the disposable paper cup to his lips and slugged the coffee. "Instant. I hate these fraud packet things. Can't they give me something better?"

Itachi watched Orochimaru lay back defeatedly on his chair. Those yellow serpent-like eyes were duller, but they still darted about the room, looking, searching for something he could use. _Well, he can use an escape. _Without turning around, Itachi said, "Ibiki, any reason why I'm here?"

"You're supposed to be smart, Itachi. Okay, so you are. That's one reason. The upper levels also thought you should have a more all-rounded exposure, 'given your excellent' track record. Heh. The most important reason is this: It's Orochimaru who loves power to hell. If he finds that someone he's been targetting to be his container is the one in power over him, how will he react. One of the psychological tactics of interrogation. I didn't pick Anko because she's way too emotional and Orochimaru knows it. Like I said, you're smart, so you should pretty know what to do when I'm directing you."

Itachi nodded. "I'll be given an ear piece?"

Ibiki tossed a small ziplock. Itachi caught it and slipped out the contents. Clipping the radio receiver to his collar, Itachi then inserted the ear piece. Ibiki put the microphone to his lips. "Testing, testing. One, two, three."

"Copy you," Itachi said as the earpiece repeating the three same words to him.

"So I'll run the objectives by you again. The Sand nins have just contacted us. One of Orochimaru's experiments, by the name of Juugo, escaped from Otogakure's North Hideout. Crazy fella, that is. They've collected only minutes of information. Their psychologists say Juugo has a split personality, urges to kill, and stuff. The guy also has the cursed seal. Trouble is, the guy's near unstoppable, killing the villagers. They've requested immediate help, and we've already posted four Chuunin teams over."

"The reports say that Juugo's been active for two years tops. Why are we interfering only now?"

"Because, with the infamous Konoha Invasion, the spotlight's on us. Sunagakure has asked for help, so what position are we in to reject them? It will only be one more excuse to wipe us out," Ibiki explained.

Itachi sighed. "Why does every bad thing have to do with Orochimaru?"

"… because he knows everything?" Ibiki offered mockingly.

"Yeah, he should know," Itachi said darkly.

"I've estimated. Eight hours to get him to spit everything out. No give or take. Savvy?"

Itachi nodded.

"I hope you remember everything in this file. If not we'll be wasting our time," Ibiki said mock seriously.

"Don't joke. You know very well I have the Sharingan."

"Very well then. We'll see what you're made of. You sure you know the mental trauma you could get from this?"

"Nothing I can't handle, with all due respect."

"Good. One thing. Don't use violence. My boys will do it. And no Sharingan or jutsus. We use physical persuasion, pure and simple."

"Okay."

"Adjust yourself then. Take a pee. Or coffee. You're in in five minutes."

Itachi nodded. "I find watching Orochimaru like this fascinating."

"Sure, we always do when the big catches are brought in. And you know what, we've been saving Orochimaru for stuff like this. So far, it's only been aimless kicks and punches. Just a punching bag. He won't be expecting it."

Itachi grinned.

Five minutes passed, quickly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orochimaru folded his arms and stared at Itachi, intent on boring a hole of fear in the Uchiha. Itachi was the perfect container, ahead of Kimimaro. He had caught Orochimaru's attention at his Chuunin Exam. At ten years of age the boy had easily defeated the older opponents, and set the record of getting out of the Forest Of Death the fastest, until Sabaku no Gaara had broken it. But the Uchiha had refused his offer of absolute power, he thought contemptuously. "Missed me at last, Itachi-kun?"

"Absolutely, but please refer to me as Uchiha-sama," Itachi smiled brightly.

Orochimaru said nothing, but turned to the one-way window. No doubt it would be Morino Ibiki on the other side watching for his reaction of being ordered by Itachi. The supposed Uchiha genius was a mere puppet now, Orochimaru scoffed. A large wall clock was mounted in front of him. A tactic that interrogators used to show their poor, poor victims how slow time was passing. Orochimaru refused to unfold his arms.

Itachi pulled his collar. The fabric was of good quality, worthy of his clan name. But it was nothing compared to the lustrous robes he could have had if he had become Orochimaru's container. An entire wardrobe. "Wide collars are good."

"What?" Orochimaru said, frowning.

Itachi tugged at his collar again. "Promotes blood circulation, don't you think? Frees up the brain. Which is why pimps like Maito Gai and Rock Lee are such weirdos. Their brain doesn't function well enough, so the chakra tunnels aren't well utilised, no wonder they turned to Taijutsu."

"What?" Orochimaru hissed.

A triumphant smirk flitted across Itachi's face, and Orochimaru realised that it had been a game. He, the cunning serpent, had been lured into a trap and had lost. Itachi had claimed victory. The weasel won over a snake. "Why did they bring you here? I have rights to reject the usage of the Sharingan."

Itachi gave that smile again. "No, you don't have rights here."

"I wasn't born yesterday, Itachi-kun. I know your prisoners have rights."

"Uchiha-sama, Orochimaru," Itachi reiterated. "Let me tell you what we want to know, then you will tell us what we want to know."

Orochimaru's yellow orbs slid to bottom left. "You're insane."

"No, I'm not crazy, Orochimaru. Quite the opposite compared to you."

"This is madness."

Itachi grinned. "Let's tuck in.

"I believe you know Juugo, your first major breakthrough. He came to the North Hideout of Otogakure years back. Looking into your labs, he saw a clinic. Well, Juugo-san here had a pretty big problem, the insane urges to kill, that he couldn't control. So basically, he wanted rehab and thought you could help him. Agreeing to this, you had a bigger motive.

"You, Orochimaru, was attracted to Juugo-san's oddity, and came up with a crazy idea. You used your own blood to culture an enzyme that would induce a normal ninja into a similar state of unstoppable killing madness.

"And this comes in the form of the cursed seal."

Orochimaru stared back. He tried to swallow, but his mouth had dried.

"Juugo is the origin, the source of the cursed seal. But it doesn't affect him the way it does to other people, because it is his natural ability," Itachi said. "Isn't this interesting?"

Orochimaru stared sullenly back.

"Two years ago, we had an informant, a reliable source considering that it was a still active ANBU operative, give a detailed report. He noted the oddities happening in Otogakure that did not tally. Genin, Chuunin, and Jounin were disappearing mysteriously, just like in Konoha. True enough, our informant tracked a few ninjas and followed them to your four hideouts, North, South, East, and West. That's when we learnt of Juugo's existence.

"Our informant then reported that you had suddenly taken an active role in Otogakure. You trained your ninjas in the Arts of War, upped the training levels. Your ninjas progressed at a faster pace. Not bad for a developing, unrecognised village."

"What do you want," Orochimaru spat.

Itachi ignored him. "A year back, we posted more informants, with pleasing results. You not only helped Juugo calm down, but suppressed it, so that when you injected a chemical in him, the effects would be explosive. The ultimate killing machine. Konoha immediately took charge by putting Juugo on the hit list and upping security. True enough, massive oneshot killings took place within four weeks. My men certainly think that you were involved in it. Forensics had a quick look before the countries' Hunter Nin's found the scenes. Definitely the work of psycho, no?

"You could refute these claims, saying it was the Akatsuki or missing nin. But you were sighted three days before every hit. Our informants even attained copies of the forged papers. It's quite obvious it was the work of Juugo, under your instruction, Orochimaru.

"Your first target was the Hidden Rain. You attacked it twice in a span of two days. Hardly time for the village to react. You aimed at its Ninja Academy. A test run, as my men see it. Every single student and teacher was massacred. No survivors. The village was devastrated, and the murderer was never caught. The next day, you set Juugo on an entirely different place. During the funeral, you made Juugo attack the commoners on the east side. No survivors, again.

"Your second target was Hidden Rock. This time you only struck once. During the Chuunin Exam that took place there, Juugo killed the participants along with the testers in the first exam. Every country was badly affected. It was a prime target, wasn't it? The future generation silenced in a single attack.

"Your third target was the Hidden Sand. It was the nastiest attack of all. Juugo was unleashed on the East gate. All the officers that approached him were killed. He barraged into the commoners side. Half of them were slaughtered, the rest escaped, but Sound Nin met them on the other side some were killed. The survivors along with your surbodinates were killed, how is that? Outrageous killing intent-Juugo. We have enough evidence to back our claims, Orochimaru. But we've never brought this up because you've never managed to set Juugo on us. You never questioned our security though."

Orochimaru could feel a trickle of sweat slide down his back.

"Allow me to continue," Itachi said calmly. "Juugo moved on to cause massive destruction on the Chuunin department."

"The only other Hidden Village you did not attack was the Hidden Mist. Not to say that you weren't there. Our informant sent back reports of you being there. It was during the high season of summer. Hidden Mist depends a lot during this two week period, where commoners from all over Ninja World come to their large beaches. The mist clears and it's a great place for relaxation. A good equation for maximum destruction. Forever will Hidden Mist's economy be crippled because of a memory of a mad murderer, no?

"No one was harmed by a mass murderer," Itachi said. "But they were by a tsunami. Worst hit of all, but it comes every decade. Funny how you forgot, Orochimaru. We think that you were planning an attack when the Tsunami came in. A good coincidence. For once nature defied you, and at least innocents were not_ slaughtered_."

Orochimaru unfolded his arms and placed his hands on his lap. He felt like reaching out to punch the Uchiha senseless, but it would only be falling for Morino Ibiki's clever ruse. He calmed himself. He did not want to give Konoha any satisfaction. But, then again he had never been so insulted.

"Seven months back, we had another report. Don't you think you have a rather lucrative folder, Orochimaru? All in the span of only two years, and we have more. Juugo was deactivated, placed back in for rehab, and more surpressing. A month ago, you led the Sound invasion, but Juugo had no part in this. Why? He would be a great asset to you."

Orochimaru refused to answer.

"Then let me tell you why, Orochimaru. You had a back-up plan. In the event that you failed to conquer Konoha, you set Juugo up to be unleashed in four weeks. You timed his drugs and treatments perfectly," Itachi said. Ibiki had given this information word for word through the ear piece. No doubt a bit of manufactured information. It was a big gamble, but paid off because Orochimaru's pale face had gone white.

"Now, Itachi said. "Juugo is in the Sand."

"What do you want?" Orochimaru hissed.

Itachi smiled. "For full amnesty and banishment from Fire Country, you tell us what Juugo's fighting pattern is, his skills, his full profile. Everything. And his weakness. Then we want information about your other dangeorus experiments, Orochimaru."

Itachi walked over to the wall, taking out a piece of black chalk. Then he wrote: FULL AMNESTY AND BANISMENT FROM FIRE COUNTRY. This, Orochimaru, is to let you know that this offer will stand throughout your entire duration. You can accept the offer now or at any time. But do not lie. I am a Sharingan user, Orochimaru. I will know. Do we have full co-operation, Orochimaru?"

"Get out of my sight, Itachi-kun," Orochimaru spat, adding the 'kun' honorifc just to spite the Uchiha. He was totally disgusted and irritated by the exchange.

Itachi just smiled. Two men opened the door and stepped into the room. They wore black sleevelss tanks and gray army fatigues. They were in their late twenties and had toned muscles. One had three laceration scars that tatooed his exposed shoulder. The other held the red ANBU tattoo. The other had a nose broken three times at least, and bandages wrapped his right hand. Protection against broken knuckles.

"I repeat, Orochimaru. Will you co-operate now?" Itachi said, smiling.

"Get. Out."

"Then, Orochimaru, please remove your clothing," Itachi said sweetly, as a Chuunin teacher would to his cute Academy students.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jiraiya smiled thinly at the low-life village. Brothels left him drooling, but slavery and the like? He found it distasteful. He had transformed into a forty-year old man, seemingly drunk. No point walking into a village crammed with criminals when you were a Sannin. They fled like birds and bees. He turned his young head left and right, then stared at the paper. Minutes later, he came to a stop at the inn Kakashi had directed him to.

The steps were wooden, and splitered at places. The metal banister was scraped of paint and well worn. After three flights of stairs that reeked of violent mixtures, Jiraiya got off the landing and shambled down the rooms. _2…3…4…5. _Jiraiya rapped sharply on the door.

A young male voice, hard and cold, replied after six times. "Who is it?"

"Better to look into the peephole with your Sharingan, Uchiha Sasuke, but it's me, Jiraiya, Toad Hermit and Sannin. Writer of the Icha Icha Series. Open up, now."

Seconds later a cool mess of spiked hair appeared. "Jiraiya-sama," Sasuke apologised.

Jiraiya waved it off. "No need. If I was a seasoned criminal I would've gouged your eyeballs through the peephole anyway. Secondly, is Uzumaki and Haruno here?"

The young Uchiha's face darkened, but his general expression did not change. He looked worried. "No, no news of them."

"We have. Kakashi has contacted them, and he's escorting them using Pakkun to lead them here," Jiraiya replied. Then, he welcomed himself into the small room and sat on the floor. Fishing out a sake bottle from his travel pack, Jiraiya released his transformation with a _poof_ and took a swig of the rice wine. "Ahh… that's better. So, Uchiha. Are you wondering why I'm here?"

"Yes, actually," Sasuke said. He sat on the floor opposite Jiraiya, crosslegged. "Has it got something to do with the Hokage? I've told Kakashi, and I will tell you this. I accept any punishment on behalf of my teammates willingly. It's my fault the Hokage died, if any."

Jiraiya closed his eyes in frustration. "Enough of the self-pity, Uchiha."

Sasuke looked up sharply.

"Okay, not self-pity. I know ninjas like us don't pity ourselves like pampered Academy students," he said sincerely. "What I meant, Uchiha, is that no one could've stopped that death under those circumstances. Even though it still amazes us how Sarutobi was defeated, we have to accept it."

"I already have, Jiraiya-sama. I've done this before, five years ago. The psychotherapists said the same thing to me," Sasuke said. "I said those words as a form of responsibility."

"Very well," Jiraiya said. "To your request, I reject it. Even as the team leader, I don't do things that way. Itachi should have taught you teamwork. You thrive as a team, you fall as a team, nothing personal involved. Copy? Anyway, this punishment is the opposite of what that idiot hag Koharu wants."

Sasuke looked up questioningly. _A mission? _

"Well, I'm not repeating myself, so until your teammates come, live in the dark," Jiraiya said. He took another swig of sake. "So, fill me in on what you've been doing. Knowing Uchihas, they take advantage of every minute to totally execute their mission in every aspect."

Sasuke grinned. "Nothing on the Akatsuki other than rumours of their power, but enough to have something to pin on the Lightning Country, Jiraiya-sama."

Jiraiya opened his arms charitably. "Fill me in."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orochimaru, stark naked, had his hands knotted behind his back. His legs were bent and pulled back, ankles tied up. He hung from the wall by two long metal chains. On for his ankles, the other for his wrists, upside down. The two metal men were taking turns to kick, punch and harm him without breaking anything with serious repurcussions. His face was unharmed. Ibiki explained this. "Orochimaru will have two separate feelings then. One will be that he's experiencing the pain while being insulted because they're not hurting his face. The other is that he has a third person view on things, which happens when he is not being harms. During this time, his mental well-being will be seriously stretched. Other than that, I have other plans."

"You want to make sure that Orochimaru will be able to respond to everything at any moment. Right," Itachi said. A thought came to him. "If we need the information so fast, how come we're not going in on the serious stuff? Shock him into answering with intense torture."

Ibiki shook his head. "I know this approach. They teach it in the basic ANBU training. For those times when you only have two hours or less, then this will be your choice because its your only option. But the thing is, when an individual is suddenly put into an intense pain, he'll spill whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear. It could be all lies. Which is why we need a step by step approach- build the stuff up. Now what we're doing is the 'reliability' approach. If you don't talk, we'll break your fingers. If he doesn't, we break a finger. Or a leg. Or a crotch. Then he'll learn that we mean what we say, and will know that pain ensues silence."

"Wow. I'm hungry though. Didn't eat dinner yesterday or breakfast this morning. Can I have a break?"

Ibiki blinked. "Your reaction is uncommon, Itachi. Usually ninjas get sick thinking of the process they can't eat. But you're used to it. Good. Come back in fifteen minutes. The clock is ticking."

"Yes, sir," Itachi saluted briefly then headed out. _Ichiraku ramen… Miso ramen. I'll add an egg… more pork. And a dish of gyoza. Yeah… Bliss._

Itachi knew the mental, emotional, and physcial trauma Orochimaru was experiencing full well. A part of him was disgusted at the things that his profession required him to do, but the bigger part of him was okay with it. After all, this was sick bastard who committed crimes without remorse and targeted him and his younger brother for selfish means.

Itachi also knew that it would get worse and worse for Orochimaru. Things would build up faster than normal. They'd be jumping steps because of the lack of time. Interrogators preferred months at a time to thoroughly explore every unturned stone. This wasn't the time. There was a mad killer on the loose in the Sand, and they had little time.

Fourteen minutes and thirty-three seconds later, Itachi entered the whitewashed interrogation chamber. Standing in front of Orochimaru, Itachi observed the wall clock for five seconds before commenting, "Ah, right on time. It's been an hour, Orochimaru, but I know it has felt like a lot more. Been there, done that. Juugo will expire, Orochimaru. You have nothing to save, nothing to lose. Why not co-operate? You could put an end to all of this. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and escape now before you experience serious repurcussions. Remember, my offer still stands."

Orochimaru stared at the ground. Blood had rushed to his head, making him feel giddy. His blood vessels were bulging beneath the eyes. Itachi was sure that if he had a needle, Orochimaru would be screaming bloody murder while blood pooled out like a gushing tap.

Itachi nodded to the two metal men. Marching up sharply to the prisoner, one fished out a key and unlocked the chains. Orochimaru fell to the floor in a flop, but the other metal man pulled him to the feet immediately, stomping on the bare flesh with his boots. Itachi heard something snap, and Orochimaru grunted in pain.

"I have nothing to say to you," Orochimaru snarled.

Itachi gave a small under Ibiki's instruction. "Tell him he forgot to call you 'Itachi-kun'."

"Ah, Orochimaru," Itachi said. "You've dropped the 'kun' suffix. I'm glad you're learning your manners religiously, but it needs to be 'sama', Orochimaru."

Orochimaru glared at him.

Itachi shrugged his shoulders. "Is it really worth it, Orochimaru? You've been locked for more than twenty-eight days, experiencing long hours of torture. I will list them now. Sleep deprivation. Starvation. Classic rhythm irritation. Forced standing. Branding. Beating. Slashing. The list can go on, Orochimaru. It can go on, but I'll save it for later."

Orochimaru stared at the ground again, and Itachi nodded to the metal man with three scars on his shoulder. Saluting in affirmation, Three Scars strode out of the room, then wheeled a nasty looking device. There was a common surfboard, a pail, a pivot, and a garden hose. Three Scars hooked the garden hose to the only tap in the room. Unscrewing the tap, Three Scars proceeded to fill the pail.

"If you do not tell us, Orochimaru, be sure that you will experience more pain," Itachi goaded. "Look at the wall."

Orochimaru tried to turn away, but he was grabbed by the chin and his face was shoved towards the wall. FULL AMNESTY AND BANISMENT FROM FIRE COUNTRY.

"Orochimaru? Please co-operate, and end this needless suffering," Itachi said.

Orochimaru kept his peace.

Itachi scowled. "The right to silence is severely overrated, Orochimaru." _You will learn this now. _

The man supporting Orochimaru, the one with the broken nose, half-dragged the Sannin to the surf board. Using webbing, he secured Orochimaru to the surfboard. Broken Nose nodded when the vile contraption was set.

Itachi walked up to the snake master. Slowly; step by step, making sure that Orochimaru could hear every foot fall. "Do you know the process of waterboarding, Orochimaru? It is painful, very painful. You are dunked into the water until you inhale it. Water goes into your lungs and stomach. Then you are hoisted into the air to catch your breath. Just when you think it's over, you are submerged again. It is painful, Orochimaru. Hurts a lot. Will you talk?"

The Sannin closed his eyes. Then Broken Nose tipped the board, tipping it so fast Orochimaru barely had time to gulp in air before his hair was floating in water. Itachi watched with a morbid fascination. Orochimaru furiously fought to keep his eyes closed. Four minutes ticked past. Finally, Orochimaru could hold his breath no longer, and the water erupted in a cacophony of bubbles. Broken Nose held him for three, four seconds, then flipped the board upright. Orochimaru emerged, spitting, spattling.

Then he went under again.

Itachi blinked, then exited the room.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jiraiya leant back against his arms. "That bad?"

"Yes," Sasuke said. "What will you do about it, Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya snorted. "Fries like that is left to Chuunins and Jounins, not special people like us. I'll send a message as soon as possible back to Konoha. It's late, we should tuck in."

"Yes, sir. I will sleep on the floor then."

Jiraiya looked as if his humane side would protest, then he grinned mischievously. "I suppose, with my old age and all."

Sasuke sighed.

Suddenly, something familiar caught his attention. Two chakra signatures he recognised all too well. Sasuke spun towards Jiraiya. The white-haired Sannin was frowning. "You felt it too?"

"It's Naruto's and Sakura's chakra signature, sir. They've reached, finally," Sasuke said.

"Well, they could do to hide their presence. What are they playing at?" Jiraiya growled. He grabbed his jacket and heaved to his feet. "I'm going after them. Stay here, Uchiha. Keep an eye on the room."

Sighing again, Sasuke got to his feet and locked the door after Jiraiya. After that, he paced the room furiously. _Damn idiots who took so long! They'd better run when they come in! _Sasuke chuckled at the irony. He knew he'd never be able to summon such anger over a trivial matter. What that was nagging his mind was the punishment Jiraiya had set for them. By the sounds of it, it was a mission, but what was it? Something to do with the next Hokage, Sasuke hoped. He wanted to solve something, at least.

During his stay at Kasuikan, useful information on the Akatsuki was a close nil. The organisation was almost dead to the world, only a legend, a rumour even to the criminals and lowlife of society. Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed. It would be hard to locate Rukawa, then.

Their only lead was Jiraiya. It was in the reports everywhere. THIRD SANNIN DISAPPEARS! First Tsunade, then Orochimaru, and finally, Jiraiya, who no one thought would leave Konoha. On the follow up reports, Sasuke found evidence that the toad hermit was after the Akatsuki. _He went after Orochimaru at first, but now he's more concerned with the Akatsuki_, Sasuke thought. However, this small, quarter-page detail was all there was in the Konoha Archives on the Akatsuki. Nothing more. Sasuke would have to question him personally, but with his teammates present.

At the cue of two undisguised chakra signatures, Sasuke went up to the door and released the bolt. Naruto stepped in, with a sore bruise starting to swell on his head, then Sakura followed, with a similar swell glowing. Jiraiya came in last, sporting torn knuckles.

"Idiots," he growled.

Team Seven looked at each other as if they'd been apart for centuries, and it felt like that. Their gazes had softened and soon Sakura had her ex-crush in her embrace. Naruto grinned a little, then turned away. "Teme… you're okay."

"Push off, dobe. You don't look any better," Sasuke shot back, but it was all in good will. Then he pulled away from the kunoichi's grip and turned to Jiraiya. "So."

"So? That's not a full sentence, Uchiha," Jiraiya said with an uplifted eyebrow.

"So, what's the punishment?" Sasuke said. "You told me we couldn't avoid punishment, but so far, you haven't said a word about it. Now that all of us are here, you can tell us."

"I can tell you? Uchiha, you aren't in any position to order me about," Jiraiya said irritatedly.

An odd pit of fear swelled. "My apologies, Jiraiya-sama."

Jiraiya grinned appreciatively. "Thanks for that."

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke looked at him expectantly.

Jiraiya gave another odd chuckle. "We could be away for weeks, or even months if we're not careful. Buckle up, because we're going to find our Godaime."

"Who?" Naruto asked impulsively.

Jiraiya fished a sepia photograph from his pocket and showed it to the team.

"Densetsu no Kamo, Tsunade." (The Legendary Sucker, Tsunade.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three Scars and Broken Nose cut loose the webbings and hoisted Orochimaru to his damaged feet. Green snot and saliva leaked from the once clean face. Now it looked like squashed mess. The Sannin's chest was still slightly bloated from the water inhaled, and his breath came in rapid, short gasps. His yellow eyes were extremely dull, almost grey, like a dying snake.

Itachi walked up close to Orochimaru, then asked softly, "Will you or will you not co-operate, Orochimaru? Answer me."

The Sannin closed his eyes. Broken Nose grapsed Orochimaru by his hair and yanked his head backwards, forcing his eyes open. The words were ripped out of Orochimaru's mouth as the lips drew across the teeth. "Not ever."

Itachi took two paces back, then placed a finger on his ear piece. Ibiki was saying something entirely different from three hours before. "Itachi, pull back, it is over. The Sand have just contacted us again. Juugo is gone."

Frowning, Itachi strode out of the interrogation chamber and slammed the door. "What just happened?"

"I don't know either, Sunagakure just sent a message that Juugo is gone, no thanks to us. One quarter of their genins and some of the Chuunins have been killed. The Sand says that it was their jinchuukri who stopped most of the attacks," Ibiki informed. "They also say that that insane bastard is gone, taken away by two men in black cloaks imprinted with red clouds. Sounds a lot like the Akatsuki's profile."

Itachi nodded darkly. "It does."

"So, it's case closed," Ibiki said. "We've been doing who knows what for the past three and a half hours for nothing. I'm really tempted to kill Orochimaru right here, right now."

"Then control these negative impulses, Ibiki. It's bad for your mental health, seriously," Itachi said.

Ibiki waved it off, then spoke into the microphone. "Pull the Snake out and lock him up again." Then, he took up his manila folder and his empty coffee paper cup. Opening the door, Ibiki graciously gestured Itachi to see himself out. "Please."

"Thank you," Itachi said mockingly. "I hope I'll get a good testimonial for this."

"If I can manage. But you did great back there."

Itachi walked through the doorway. His mind was already buzzing with purpose. The ANBU enlistment department was just across the street, on the ground floor of the Hokage building. _If I can get a form for Sasuke… _Itachi rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What a shitload I've been through today."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Okay, so basically I gave a lot of the pages up for the first interrogation scene of Orochimaru. Hmmm, was there a point in doing this? Yes, and it will be revealed later. Am I going way too big with the plot? Possibly.

Anyway, for some reason, I dislike Orochimaru's butt and it's high time he paid some of the debts he's run up for his crimes.

I recommend Stephen Leather's Dan 'Spider' Sheperd series: Soft Target, Cold Kill, and Hot Blood. They rock, seriously. The sequence of the interrogation scenes were inspired by the last chapters of it, but as Itachi isn't some anti-violence person, I can't insult his prescence.

And yup, I'm back on track for the canon, but things will be different. Finally, another arc! It'll be better, I think.

Peace. I've cut up my A/Ns so that you'll read them. Please review and thanks for reading. I _appreciate_ every comment I get.


	25. Chapter TwentyFour The 'She' Man

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I'd be in Japan sucking piping hot Takoyaki balls. No innuendo intended. After all, I'm only fourteen.**

**Author's Notes**: Sorry for this super late chapter! School's been stressful. Dark days twenty-four/seven doing nothing but work and worry.

Magnificent thanks to **2stupid**'s amusing review and **sn1ck3rD00dl3**'s very inspiring one.

**Sn1ck3rD00dl3**: Thanks, I was really flattered. I know the general direction of where I'm going. But after what you said, I've decided to start tying up the loose ends, if not the story'll fall apart. So thank you for the reminder! This chapter is dedicated to YOU.

**Chapter Twenty-Four- The 'She' Man**

Jiraiya smirked at the gawping faces of the three Chuunins. He could understand their reaction. Maybe even relate, have a 'man to man' talk, before they went into the mission. After all, it was a full-coloured photograph of Tsunade in her early twenties, the prime of her existence. He tucked it back into his breastpocket. "Best not to let Tsunade know I'm keeping this, if you know what I mean…"

"No, I don't," Naruto said and folded his arms. "I don't at all. Who is she?"

Jiraiya went into mock incredulity. "What?! You don't know who Densatsu kamo Tsunade is? Hey, did this guy really pass the Genin tests?"

"No," Naruto said. "But that's besides the point. We should be going back to help the village, not chasing after some kickass Playboy model!"

Jiraiya grinned appreciatively. _A guy after my heart and soul. _Wiping his goofy face clean, Jiraiya glared down at the blond haired ninja. "She isn't just a Playboy model. She's infamous for her bad luck in gambling, but seems like she's not that famous. What she's really good for, is her title: Sannin kamo Tsunade."

Team Seven sat up straighter.

"So you've heard of the term 'Sannin'. That's good. I wouldn't want to explain it to ya. This is an S-ranked mission. The Council and I have debated about this, but we've come to a standstill… Tsunade'll be the Godaime Hokage… _if _we can find her."

"I'm don't get it," Sasuke said.

The others turned to him questioningly.

"I told you, I don't get it," Sasuke repeated. "Look at it from the perspective of someone who's never worked with Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama. We've lived through two civil wars. Gone through six or so years without her. How can we possibly put our lives, our futures in her hands? She's a nobody to us now."

"She used to be, or is, a Sannin, Sasuke. She has to be capable at some point," Sakura reasoned, knowing that her perspective was just about as biased as Naruto about Ramen. During her Academy years, Tsunade had been nothing but inspiration for every aspiring kunoichi. After she graduated to become Genin, people still raved about her obssesively, especially her senior, Ten Ten. "And, if not Tsunade-hime, who else?"

"She has a point there, Uchiha. There were only three candidates for this job. Koharu, Tsunade, and myself. Nobody wants Koharu to be It. And I declined the offer of becoming the Godaime. There's only Washboard left, Uchiha. No one else wants the dirty work."

Sasuke looked away. "I still don't think any of us will trust her."

"Yeah," Naruto rejoined. "Though I believe this woman deserves a chance, but the way I see it, she abandoned Konoha even during the Invasions. The Shukaku was let loose and it almost destroyed the village. She didn't come back; she doesn't deserve our respect."

Jiraiya took a step back as if he had been slapped. "Trust me, brats, when you meet her, you might just change your minds. But," he said, holding out two palms, the international signal for 'stop'. "Until then, I order the both of you to treat her as the retrieval target. This is a S-ranked mission, so I expect you to carry out your responsibility."

Naruto stared at his sandals. _There's something amiss. I can't tell what. _"…Why us? We're just Chuunins. Rookie Chuunins, too."

"Nice observation there, Uzumaki. First of all, you gits really need to butt out of Konoha. Everyone in there wants your blood for Sarutobi's death. Secondly, I still want you to pledge apprenticeship to me, Uzumaki. I really believe you need to come with me because the Akatsuki is too dangerous. Lastly, all of you should have some exposure to fresh air. You've been cooped up in your sorrow for so long you need someone to get you out, and this mission will do the trick."

Naruto's hands bunched into fists. His cerulean eyes flared red for a moment. "That was uncalled for, Jiraiya-sama. We don't need a bunch of adults nosing their way in."

The Sannin stared stonily back. "Shouldn't you feel honoured, to behold this noble conquest with I, Toad Hermit, Jiraiya-sama?"

Silence ensued. Team Seven looked at one another. Sakura said, "That was so immature."

Then they started out of the door, leaving the Sannin to curl up in a ball, tweaked out of his mind, dying.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They left Kasuikan two hours later after replenishing rations and miscallaneous equipment. Sakura purchased more weaponry, Sasuke bribed a man for forged passports to cross the Rain border. It was a simple transaction of cold hard cash and handshakes, then Sasuke headed back to the motel with his goods. When he opened the door, Naruto and Jiraiya had just reached a consesus.

"Fine, I'll let you teach me one jutsu. If I like it, I'll consider your offer again," Naruto said. _I still don't like the idea of being apprenticed to this man who wrote the Icha Icha Series._

"You sure know how to push the line, brat!" Jiraiya growled. A certain spectacular ninjutsu left by the Yondaime caught his mind's eye. "But you're on. By the end of it, you'll be begging I, the Toad Hermit Sannin Super Duper Amazing Genius Jiraiya, to teach you more tricks."

"What a super ego. Ah, Sasuke, you're back. Do you have it?"

"Yeah," Sasuke replied, then tossed the passports to Sakura, Jiraiya, Naruto respectively. "I reckon we can leave soon. The guy who did business with me said that they change shifts every nine hours."

Jiraiya nodded. "Good work. Pack up. We leave in fifteen minutes. Then you can kiss this place goodbye."

An hour later in the No Man's Land between the Lightning and Fire Country (which the Lightning had claimed for themselves), they met a team of three Rain shinobis, wearing white straitjackets. One of them grinned. "So, what do we have here? Leaf peeps sneaking into our borders and hoping to live with it?"

Sakura recognised them to be the Hidden Rain Genin team they had met in the Forbidden Forest during the Second Test of the Chuunin Exams.

Judging by the miniscule chakra signatures leaking from their bodies, they were still merely sad Genin with larger bite than bark. Naruto moved to silence them, but Sasuke tilted his head ever so imperceptibly. _Not yet. I want to see what Jiraiya can do. _Sakura caught Sasuke's train of thought, but withdrew a kunai from her weapons pouch anyway. Better safe than sorry. The Rain Genin had not noticed the withdrawn weapon.

Jiraiya put his large foot forward. "Let's settle this peacefully, eh?"

One of them snorted, then the three of them dashed in, brandishing cleaver-like weapons. "Dream's up, old man! DIE!"

Jiraiya shifted his head slightly so that he was staring, albeit sideways, at Naruto. "Watch this carefully, kid." Turning back to the matter at hand, Jiraiya spread his feet apart, summoning chakra into a half-curled hand. "RASENGAN!"

Team Seven watched in awe as blue chakra spun smoothly in the shape of a sphere in an instant. The next moment, Jiraiya had plunged his fist into the nearest Rain's stomach. A bloodcurling shierk lit the air as chakra ripped his torso up and apart, then Jiraiya's hand was through the gaping hole. The hole grew slowly, then it reached the sides of the genin's body. Splitting it in half. Bloody mess was strewn over the ground. Jiraiya straightened up, then glared down at the remaining two Rain Genin. They were trembling in their sandals.

"Please, don't hurt us! Please!"

"I'll pay you-"

Jiraiya motioned forward with his hand. "Uchiha."

Sasuke was on the balls of his feet in an instant. Sakura tossed her kunai to him, and he caught the hilt, then dashed forward. Before the two cowering Rain Genin could react, Sasuke had slit their throats. Crimson liquid spewed onto the ground.

"Better out than running about telling the world of our existence," Jiraiya said. "How did you feel doing it, Uchiha?"

Sasuke glared at the tall man as he walked past. " 'It' as in killing him?"

"Yes. You killed them without hesitation there."

"It's one of the rules of the ninja," Sasuke said, wondering where this was going.

"Rules? Is it just the rules? Few people your age during this relatively peaceful time can kill just like that. They usually prefer maximum damage but no deaths. It's hard to believe that just rules are driving you, Uchiha. This is a question I pose to all of you," Jiraiya said to all of them. "What do you feel from killing them?"

"We don't take pleasure in killing, if that's what you're driving at. Not any of us. Not even me, the demon Kyuubi's container," Naruto said. "So push off. That jutsu you did there was pretty spectacular but now you're ruining the effect."

"I want answers, from your own mouths, Haruno, Uchiha."

"I feel the same way as Naruto," Sakura said, a glare undisguised.

"Neither do I take pleasure in killing. I'm not some sadistic bastard like Shisui. You could call me desensitised to killing by now. From my early childhood I've seen a massacre. When I graduated I learnt to kill. Saw my one of my best friends mercilessly take out enemies. During the Konoha Invasion I executed many enemy ninjas. Took out all of the targets. Pre-Sound Invasion I was forced to kill again."

"You use the term 'kill' pretty generously. Usually men like to disassociate themselves by using phrases like 'taking out the target', and 'removing the obstacle'. You use 'kill', pure, simple, and raw."

"That's because it is killing, I know how to respect that, _sir_."

"So that gives you a liscence to kill?" Jiraiya asked.

Sasuke's eyes flared red. "That's not what I meant, damn it! I don't think this is all a game where I remove the opponent's chess pieces. I know it's not! I understand it's not! So just push off, will you?"

Naruto stepped in front of the Uchiha. His blue eyes pierced through Jiraiya's. "Sasuke's right, Jiraiya-sama. He may be of an advanced bloodlimit clan but he's not a psychopath. What kind of sick man are you?"

Jiraiya grinned. "I'm not mad. I liked your answer, Uchiha."

"What's the point?" Sasuke spat. "What the heck was the point?"

Jiraiya went silent for a few seconds. Then he pointed at the three dead Rain ninjas. "Look at them. They're ninjas, too. They might not have respected their duty as well as you do, but I'm sure they're a dedicated bunch, just like you brats. The circumstances might be different, but in essence it is the same. You killed off their dreams. In a split second. Destroyed their goals and ambitions. That could happen to you too."

They stared at him.

"If you killed them because you felt that the world owes you your good friend, I'll stop you right now and send all of you back to Konoha. This isn't a small thing. I've seen what hopes can do to a person, from a certain cold, arrogant bastard of a teammate. Someone who associated himself with a white skinned snake for a fantasy.

"I didn't want to put you three under this pressure, but I had to be sure you're on the right track before we continue. For all you know, Tsunade could have leads on the Akatsuki," Jiraiya said shortly, then walked away.

Naruto called after him. "We're not like Orochimaru!"

Jiraiya started, then turned around. His eyes were clouded with misery. "Orochimaru never started out the bad guy, either."

Sasuke stared after the Sannin, his Sharingans swirling in fury. _That's not it. He sees the Uchiha elders who plotted against Konoha. He sees Uchiha Shisui as the Akatsuki. He can't see me, and most probably Itachi, as individuals… I resent that._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kamui looked at the murdering psychopath with distaste. Juugo was covered with his 'cursed' seal, locked with many wounds of heavy chains and weights. His eyes were wide with madness. He was muttering, "A female… Yes, definitely a female for the next person I see when I get out of his."

"You wanted a cure from Orochimaru, Juugo, but we have it, he doesn't," Kamui said calmly. "From your words. You don't really seem to want it, do you?"

Recognition registered in Juugo's crazed eyes. He licked his lips like a lizard. "What are you talking about? I'm fine here, really good, and I want to kill. I want to rip the balls out of you and eat them in front of you!" He rocked back and forth in his foetal form, held by the metal links. "I want it, before I kill-" His eyes clouded over again, pupils becoming dilated. "Ah, yes, kill. Next will be a girl. I'll rip her apart."

Kamui breathed heavily through his nose, glancing up at the sky. Shisui had gone out hunting for the night's dinner, and to steal a First Aid kit from a near village. It had been three hours, but there was no sign of the flame-haired Uchiha. _There is no cause for worry, but that idiot better be here soon. _Shisui had become a hopeless person ever since they had retrieved the Void Akatsuki member; the bloodlust had risen tremendously. Everyday, he, Kamui, was forced to draw his partner away from fights that had no value at all to their cause. The moon was a thin crescent.

"I am back."

Kamui turned around. "You are late. Juugo has lost a lot of blood, and he needs a tranquiliser immediately. I won't have him yammering at my ear. Next time, either you get rid of him or do the babysitting, get it?"

Shisui tossed the white First Aid box to his partner, a few rabbits trussed up and slung across his shoulder. "Calm down, no cause for alarm. What's with you these days? Getting soft? You pull out of fights like a yellow coward, and lose your temper like nobody's business. Well, it affects me!"

Kamui stood up. "Listen to yourself speak, Shisui. Then come back and talk to me." _If not I might just pull the trigger on Aikawa's memories and get him to kill you for me. _

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lightning Country is a collage of greenery. To its side are mountains on which tea leaves are farmed. Get off the mountains and follow the main roads and you would come to clusters of houses which formed little villages that combined into one huge city. About seventy percent of Lightning Country was covered with buildings and technology that advanced beyond that of other Countries, making itself the most advantageous player in the modern economy. The Hidden Village of the Rain was cooped off to somewhere in the Western area of Lightning Country.

Team Seven, led by Jiraiya, was not going there. Instead, they were heading for the South Eastern parts, where the Ninja World's most famous casinos resided. It was entertainment land, pure and simple. Neon lights shone twenty-four seven, and it was rated for the highest noise and light pollution.

They reckoned that Densatsu Kamo Tsunade would be here.

The team had split up: Naruto with Jiraiya; Sakura and Sasuke. To keep in touch, Jiraiya had introduced the pay-as-you-go sim cards to the gang...

... _"You slot them into the phones and I'll be able to call you. Be ready at ten o'clock sharp; that's when I'll call, got it? Oh yeah, your number is 1900-87699876. Don't forget. Mine is 1900-33234987."_

Sasuke decided that they should dress up as common backpackers. After Sakura had gotten them both rucksacks, they transferred their luggage and weapons into it, although Sasuke kept a throwing shrike beside his boot, disguised.

Stepping into the crowd was another thing. Women in nothing but netted blouses and underwear flirted openly on the streets, and old men sought them like dogs to cats. For ten whole minutes Sasuke and Sakura were forced apart. One man went so far as to drag Sakura into a building. It turned out that he had made the wrond decision, and he was holding his nose when Sakura walked out of the building, rubbing her bruised knuckles.

After that they stuck together, acting like a travelling couple, even if they were not of age.

"Pachinko! Fortune will rain down on you! Pachinko!" A salesgirl shouted. Her make-up was perfectly applied. Beside the pachinko shop, men scrambled to exchange their rewards for cold hard cash, no caring if the stuff toys in their hands had been there before. The pachinko shops reused their rewards, because basically, no one wanted them. Lightning Country had passed the bill that Pachinko shops were not allowed to give out money, but only gifts. For awhile, these gambling dens ran out of business, then the owners became smart and set up stalls beside their shops to exchange the gifts for money. Troublesome, but money rolled in all the same.

Sasuke and Sakura stepped into the building.

"Spare me," Sasuke said. "These people really are idiots."

The gamblers were staring lustfully at the Pachinko machines, watching the fake coins roll and jiggle through the tubes, full crates were beside their seats, waiting to be used up.

"They probably only win one-tenth of what they spend," Sasuke said. "Pachinko is a clever business. Your customers do win, but windfalls are rarely present."

Sakura only nodded. She found the game interesting. Unlike Sasuke, she stayed within Konoha for the most part of her life, and the Sandaime abolished most of the gambling dens, so she didn't know Pachinko.

They walked through two floors and one basement of glaring lights and "Ka-Chink!" sounds that blared through their ears. Sasuke touched his teammates elbow. "Come on, let's go. This place makes me sick."

The outdoors were no better. A flirt with full breasts and thick perfume placed a hand around Sasuke's neck. "Shall we? It's only fifteen credits."

Sasuke frowned at him. Yes, it was difficult to belive that the woman was a he, with her angled eyebrows and bursting cleavage that threatened to pop off the buttoned fishnet shirt. "I would appreciate you taking your hands off my person, _sir_."

He looked as if he was about to cry. Lip quivering, he asked. "Sir?'

"Sir," Sasuke said firmly. "You reek of male hormones, no matter how you try to supress them. I have no desire to consort with the hands of procreation, much less from a man, sir. Anyway, I am only thirteen. Hardly into puberty. You will find no satisfaction."

The man broke away from the Uchiha and ran off, heels cracking against the sidewalk. Sasuke watched the tears splatter at his feet with no emotion. He inclined his head at Sakura. "I can't imagine you doing that to me."

Sakura shuddered. "I won't. I'm a girl, don't you know! I'd count this off as lust if I didn't know you."

Sasuke grinned. "But our disguising skills are convincing; he couldn't recognise me to be in my early teens. Good to know our _henge _skills are up to scratch."

Sakura frowned at the sudden change in topic, but allowed Sasuke to maneuver her away from their previous thread. The Uchiha rarely ever expounded on small talk. It was as if he wanted an eavesdropper to know that they were ninja, and that they were in disguise.

"Who are we meeting, Bunny?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke glared at the offending pinkhead. _Bunny? _He mouthed. "Ah, we're meeting the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, Barbie." His voice was thickly laden with sarcasm, even Naruto would be hard pressed to ignore it.

Sakura tugged at her hair. "Where?"

Sasuke dropped his voice. "At the next Pachinko shop," he mouthed. Another 'she' man approached them, but Sasuke evaded him skillfully, and they skipped into the Pachinko shop. Sakura tried not to look over her shoulder for their 'tail' as Sasuke purchased a crate full of Pachinko chips. They lugged it over to a machine, then started slotting the chips in like crazy. Sasuke was right: they were losing more than winning.

"Bunny, is he coming?" Sakura whined.

"No. Let's go."

They left the building, leaving its customers to fight over the half empty crate.

"What was that all about?" Sakura asked softly.

Sasuke shrugged. "I had a feeling we were being tailed, and we were. But it turned out to be another 'she' man. He was loitering outside the glass, didn't you see? But he thought we'd be there forever so he left."

"Doesn't that sound suspicious?" Sakura asked.

The Uchiha smirked. "If everything was suspicious, Sakura, we should even step out of the door. Lightning Country is like this. 'She' men are as common as the Pachinko shops, but the persistent ones are less common."

"Then why did you reveal that you were a ninja?"

"Oh, henge?" Sasuke asked. "That was to tell if the 'she' man was just a 'she' man or a suspicious character. He didn't know what a henge was, so he can't be a spy."

"So we're onto nothing at all?" Sakura asked exasperated.

"Sad to say."

They walked through the streets, stopping at every gambling den, restaurant, and motel. It was an extremely trying process, but the pair did it anyway, dodging 'she' man ambushes frequently. The hours passed, and the sun rose to its apex.

Sasuke turned to Sakura. "Hungry?"

Sakura nodded. "Guess so. Where should we eat?"

Sasuke glanced around. There was a mobile stall set up two streets away. "What about there?"

Sakura shrugged, and they went to the shop. Two normal men were turning takoyaki balls in the pan. They were selling three for two credits. Sasuke offered four. "We'll take three each."

The men grinned, then fished out the six squid balls and sprinkled tenkasu onto the boat. Taking toothpicks, Sasuke and Sakura sat on the high stools provided beside the mobile stall, feasting on the takoyaki. "Do you think we'll really find Tsunade-hime here? I can't imagine a Sannin on these streets," Sakura said.

"Neither can I imagine a Sannin writing porn novels," Sasuke retorted pointedly. "The Sannins are a load of weirdoes. All of them. Orochimaru turned out to be some psycho experimentalist, Jiraiya's a perverted idiot, and Tsunade's supposed to be a Super Loser. I mean, their famous, but infamous!"

Sakura decided not to argue. Sasuke had a point. "Ah well, I guess so. But I still think it's weird. Why Tsunade-hime? There are other candidates, from the advanced bloodlimit clans. They're skilled as it is, and have leadership responsibilities. Itachi-sensei could be the Hokage, but he's too young. There's Hyuuga Hiashi, et cetera."

"Of all people you pick a Hyuuga? Do you have a crush on Hyuuga Neji?"

"Give me a break, like real!" Sakura said sarcastically.

"Like you said, real," Sasuke said.

Sakura speared a takoyaki ball savagely. "Whatever. Just because you Uchihas have something on the Hyuugas doesn't mean you have to rub it in like every two seconds."

Sasuke smirked, then went back to his lunch.

One of the takoyaki chefs hobbled up to them. Sasuke looked up, flakes of tenkasu hanging from his mouth. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but hear. Both of you speak very loudly," the man said.

Sasuke stood up. "What did you hear?"

"Nothing incriminating!" The man said immediately. He looked frightened. "I just heard you say 'Tsunade-hime'. As in Densatsu Kamo Tsunade?"

The Uchiha was interested. "What of it?"

"Well, I remember her because she created quite a stir here two weeks ago. She lost twenty thousand credits in three nights at the pachinko shop just down the road. She's a Super Loser, they call her."

"And?"

"She came by our stall for a few takoyaki balls," the man said.

"But where is she?" Sasuke asked.

The man looked confused, then fearful again. "Please don't hurt me, I didn't ask! But her companion mentioned they were going eastward."

The duo finished the squid balls in a flash. Sasuke flipped a coin to the man. "Thanks a lot, sir. You're a great help."

"Thank you!" The man beamed.

When they were away, Sasuke spoke up. "We should head east now. Jiraiya said the card's transmission was unlimited as long as it was within Lightning, right?"

"Yeah," Sakura said. "It seems that Tsunade-hime causes a stir where ever she goes. We just have to ask."

"Yes. We'll check in at the nearest inn at nine. Now that we have a lead, it'll be easier to pick up Tsunade's trail. Hopefully this thread will lead us to her. The sooner we back out from this the sooner we'll be able to go home, even if the people want our blood."

Sakura nodded. "But it'll be hard. The information's two weeks old."

Sasuke unscrewed his water bottle cap and drained the water. "We'll manage."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the other end of the road, the other search team were picking on dry leaves. People positively fled from the giant of a fifty-plus year old man. Jiraiya was classified as a supreme paedophile, and Naruto was a sex slave, even before they opened their mouths. Pachinko shops closed at the sight of them.

"You'd think it'll be different with what these people actually do!" Jiraiya complained irately.

"Hmph," Naruto said. It was hard not to be Sasuke when you were with a fifty year old who wrote porn. An awkward situation, seeing as it is hard to cast around for an appropriate subject. _What am I supposed to say? How do you do your research? What's the biggest cup size you've seen? How many G-strings have you seen on the floor? Oh, god, I'm going crazy. Now I know why they say a person cannot go without language. Now I'm speaking trash like Sasuke. Argh! Someone get me out of here! _"So, Jiraiya-sama, the Rasengan you did back there was cool. Are you going to teach me that?"

Jiraiya cast another grin. "Uh huh. I'm telling you, even the Yondaime took three years to master this technique. It is that hard. You have to have imagination, control, and the power to do the Rasengan. I'll teach it to you in three steps, like I did with the Yondaime."

Naruto looked disappointed. "Three years? Jiraiya-sama, I appreciate the offer, but if I'm spending three years on one technique, I'd rather concentrate on other things."

Jiraiya's grin flickered. "Ah, I see. Fine, you greedy mongrel. I'll devise a plan to cut the time down, okay? At least the next time we see the Uchiha and your girlfriend, you'll have something new to excite them."

"Good. What is it that you have against Sasuke anyway?"

"Nothing!" Jiraiya replied. "Nothing."

Naruto looked away. "And Sakura's not my girlfriend."

"The way you look at her…" Jiraiya trailed. He tapped his temple. "I have eyes of an expert, Uzumaki. I see these things." Naruto glared. "Okay, okay. I'll stop saying that she's your girlfriend, but one condition."

"What is it?"

"Don't call me Jiraiya-sama, that's too formal if I'm stuck with you. Sannin or Sensei is fine."

Naruto's face split into his trademark grin. "Good. Then I'll call you Pervert Sannin!"

Jiraiya slapped a hand to his face.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Author's Notes**: This chapter came out really late because of common tests and essays I had to rush out, plus I had a really high fever that ran two days with me and I'm still coughing. Still have a couple of project presentations and planning to do, so wish me luck!

Please, leave a review!


	26. Chapter Twenty Five The Queit Dango Shop

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Slim Shady is Real.**

**sn1ck3rD00dl3: Thanks for the last review. I never really mean it to fall on the day the manga updates, but on weekends, with the manga and free time, I'm usually psyched up to post some, still, glad to know you're happy. Thanks. Hope this Chapter is up to standard!**

Had an okay week. Good and bad stuff happened.

**Chapter Twenty-Five The Queit Dango Shop**

It had been a week since they had first left Kasuikan. Naruto had felt odd in that place, maybe it was the familarity of the orphanage there. He remembered the anger bubbling in his chest just standing outside the old building. It was not because of the bad memories that he had in orphanages, but the connection he had with the people in there. He knew what it was like, not having your parents or anyone to turn to. "Enough of the self-pitying, Uzumaki," Naruto said softly, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Naruto fell back, supporting his head with his hands interlaced as a pillow. The standard issue sleeping bag was probably a recycle of some dead ninja, but Naruto did not mind. It still served his purpose and kept him warm. The grass rustled about him.

Usually they would pitch tents, but Jiraiya said that there were no insects in Lightning Country because of some 'air pollution' crap. Naruto snorted. The pervert had probably came up with the word 'pollution' because he was too lazy to get his ass up and pitch a tent.

The unlikely duo was still on the outskirts of Lightning Country. In other words, there were no skyscrapers, Pachinko shops, or other sleazy entertainment for the time-worn citizen. Instead, there were only a few Intranet cafes, a computer centre, and telephone boxes that littered the area. For a person born and bred in Konoha, it was an enlightening experience.

"Kid, I swear I'll make Tsunade educate you brats back at the academy. Crap, you don't even know how to switch the damned computer on!" Jiraiya had half shouted.

Naruto had merely rolled his eyes.

Naruto chuckled at the memory. The pervet was really the limit; he couldn't stand it. Jiraiya was practically acting like an eleven year old moping for attention. _If I had been like that… _Naruto smacked his forehead. It was better to be optimistic when you were thinking about yourself.

Something streaked across the sky like a tear drop. It was bright, and beautiful. "A shooting star…?"

Rare that something so brilliant would appear even in the light polluted nights of Lightning Country. Naruto closed his eyes.

A flash of memory. A face with a smile that briefly touched his eyes. Naruto looked down on an impulse. Oh! He was wearing his orange jumpsuit again. He rubbed the worn fabric fondly. Too bad his fashion sense didn't go with his duty. Naruto looked up again. "Rukawa."

_The boy nodded, and grinned slightly, his eyes narrowing into menacing slits._

_Naruto frowned. Menacing? He laughed it off. "Yo, where've you been?"_

_Rukawa shrugged, as if to say 'what's it to you'._

"_Well, I dunno. Sasuke and Itachi-sensei just look so sad. Ha, but they are sad bastards, pun intended. Ha! Okay, lame, I know. Whatever! Oh yeah, I'm learning the Rasengan! Dunno what sort of jutsu it is, but it is really powerful, supposed to be bigger than Sasuke's Chidori. Not bad, eh?"_

"_Not bad at all," Rukawa said. After a moment's consideration, he asked, "Who are you learning it from?"_

"_Jiraiya, but I calle him Ero-sannin cos' that's what he is. He's the creator of the Icha Icha! Polluted Sakura's effing mind!" Naruto cried out desperately._

_Rukawa let out a low chuckle. "Just as I thought, it is the Sannin. Interesting, you're learning from a master, Naruto."_

_Naruto grinned, but he was too embaressed to say 'So I can save you', so instead he said, "Just so I can become strong enough to be Hokage!"_

_Rukawa smiled. "Good luck to you then, Naruto."_

_Naruto scratched his head. "Thanks."_

Naruto opened his eyes. That had most likely been a good dream. _Well, at least it's good. _He rolled over and slept.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kazuya had been recuperating from his injuries when the vision came. It was night, and Haku had found an abandoned cabin for them to rest. The Sandaime was a vicious fighter even in his very old age; he hadn't healed yet. But at least he had emerged victorious. That was the thought he was revelling in when he saw a shooting star fall from the heavens and everything went black…

… he opened his eyes. A familiar face with an orange jumpsuit struck his senses. Naruto? What was the jinchuukri doing in his dreams? The Konoha ninja looked relieved to see him, and Kazuya could not help but suppress the hate growing within him. He could add two and two together easily. The Uzumaki thought he was seeing Rukawa in a happy dream.

"Rukawa," Naruto said.

Kazuya nodded his head and grinned. _I'll let this play out. _

Something must have shown on his face because Naruto's face shadowed with fear for a moment before he laughed it off forcefully. Kazuya composed his face, while indulging in the discomfort he had caused. He tilted his head upwards slightly.

The jinchuukri decided to make casual conversation. "Yo, where've you been?"

_To hell and back. _Kazuya shrugged.

Naruto ignored the indifferent gaze that Kazuya held and started rambling. Kazuya had started to switch on when he had heard both Uchihas' name. "Well, I dunno. Sasuke and Itachi-sensei just look so sad. Ha, but they are sad bastards, pun intended. Ha! Okay, lame, I know. Whatever! Oh yeah, I'm learning the Rasengan! Dunno what sort of jutsu it is, but it is really powerful, supposed to be bigger than Sasuke's Chidori. Not bad, eh?"

That was interesting, the Rasengan was a technique unheard of for more than a decade, and only two people had used it, the Yondaime and Jiraiya the Sannin. "Not bad at all," he replied. Since they were supposed to be after Naruto, might as well pop the question. "Who are you learning it from?"

"Jiraiya, but I called him Ero-sannin cos' that's what he is," Naruto said. Kazuya was surprised even thought he knew it was coming, the Sannin was someone to be feared alongside the names of the kages. The mission had taken a steep uphill. Then Kazuya realised that Naruto was still talking.

"He's the creator of the Icha Icha! Polluted Sakura's effing mind!" Naruto cried out desperately, as if he was hoping 'Rukawa' would laugh at the poor joke. Kazuya let out a low chuckle. He had to hand it to the Sannin to react so quickly to the Akatsuki's movements. "Just as I thought, it is the Sannin. Interesting, you're learning from a master, Naruto."

Naruto grinned and said, "Just so I can become strong enough to be Hokage!"

Selfish, illusionist bastard. His world was himself. Kazuya forced himself to smile endearingly. Funny how facial features came so difficultly when he was trained to be emotionless. It was a mistake on Shisui's part. With the Kyuubi as their target, there was certainly a lot of motivation for Haku and him, but it was way to personal.

"Good luck to you then, Naruto," Kazuya said.

"Thanks."

Then the bloody blonde idiot cut the connection…

…Kazuya shook his head. He pulled a folded paper out of his pocket and opened it. It was the Team Seven photograph, and the Uzumaki was still in his orange jumpsuit. The Uchiha just beside him was still wearing that undesirable smirk. The Uchiha placing his palms on Sasuke's and Naruto's heads still wore that same Uchiha attire. The Haruno was in her pink dress, still fawning over Sasuke. Kazuya examined the faces imprinted on the crumpled paper carefully. Dreams had been sprouting out of his uneventful sleeps, and the content was slightly disturbing.

Kazuya slowly folded the photograph. He attributed it to post-trauma of everything. Betrayal. Torture. Assasination. Everything. People could desensitize themselves, but few men could kill in cold blood. Kazuya grunted and tucked the photo calmly back into his pocket.

As far as he knew, the Akatsuki were cold blooded.

A flash of emotion. Kazuya paused, then closed his eyes. Did he… just feel… absolute hate for Akatsuki?

No. It just wasn't possible.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another seventeen days came and went. He had been away from the Hidden Leaf for a longer period of time, but knowing that he was forced to stay away because of a criminal charge left him homesick. Sasuke took a bite out of his onigiri. He, Leaf Chuunin aiming to be ANBU captain in the shortest time ever imagined, was homesick on an S-ranked mission.

Beside him, Sakura started to recount one of her childhood stories with Ino. Though he wasn't one who enjoyed female rants, Sasuke found he didn't mind at all. The endless story kept his mind off the many things he wanted to forget for a moment. Such as the mission at hand. After chasing for such a long time, they had finally gotten recovered nine days worth of of lead. Tsunade was only another arm's length away.

Sasuke looked off to the side, chuckling at Sakura's animated storytelling. When he got back to Konoha, he would approach Itachi and make the older Uchiha become his mentor. Then there was the towering obstacle: how to make Itachi comply?

Sasuke bit off the corner of his onigiri. _Shit. That will be the day Naruto drops Ramen. _Itachi helping him was as unlikely as those odds. Sasuke chewed thoughtfully on the rice; perhaps if his brother actually did extend the hand of help, he would force Naruto out of ramen for a whole week, just to prove that the impossible could be done.

Sakura started on a memory of some flower arrangement lesson and she was bullied. Then Ino came along and saved the day by turning flowers into kunais and something like that. Sasuke observed the street scene once again. They were rather boring. Their Hokage-to-be had to be the lamest person on earth, because wherever she was there was nothing but gambling dens, money-lending shops, Pachinko chains, and more 'She' men. It was a trying experience for a boy just into puberty. _The pilgrimage through the temptation_, Sasuke thought idly. _Just without the temptation. Worst case scenario, Jiraiya just wanted to see some pretty sights. Damn it, if that really happens, I'll make him cut and eat his own freakin' -_

"Sakura," Sasuke said, interrupting his thoughts, which had taken such a turn he was feeling slightly sick himself. "We've taken twenty minutes too long. We should get going."

Sakura sighed. "Just thought you needed entertainment."

"Yes, I did. A person deprived of literature will create some for himself. Thank you for the analysis I managed to garner from you, Sakura," Sasuke said sarcastically.

Sakura rolled her eyes but chuckled. She had gotten used to the slightly cynical and warped humor of her black-haired teammate. "Do I get an inscription onto one of your grand Uchiha medals for 'Best Uchiha-Amuser'?"

"Unfortunately no. If there was it'd be Naruto."

"I'm sure."

Sasuke popped the rest of his riceball into his mouth. "Enough of the humoring. Like I said, let's go."

They got up and left.

As they strolled briskly down the pavement, Sasuke asked, "How's our financial status?"

"S' okay. We've got about nine more days of living-like-this then ten of scrimping. We might have to sign in for a transaction, but that's impossible because we're not officially accepted into Lightning Country as Leaf ninja. The only option left is stealing," Sakura replied.

She felt slightly disconcerted. One moment Sasuke was opening up, the next he was Uchiha Sasuke the genius super rookie, all business-like. She was used to it, but without Naruto alleviating the tension was almost scary.

Sasuke nodded. "I'd love the challenge. Tell me when the time comes, cos' I need to exercise my Sharingan. All this trekking is good for the heart but I'm starting to feel as useless as the rest of the world."

"You and your Uchiha ego."

"Hn."

The pair stopped at the next gambling den. Sasuke approached the shop keeper and slid over a few credits, plus a photograph of Tsunade. "Seen this woman before?"

The man's face lit up. "Yes! The Super Loser made me rich in three sittings. I earned one million credits from her, damn it, I wish she was back!"

"I see, where's she now?"

"At the Kajin Shrine, I suppose. Her servant, some cute black haired lady, said something about that place. They'll be having a carnival in three days, so I expect the Super Loser to be there to lose even more money!" The shop keeper laughed maniacally.

Sasuke and Sakura thanked him then went off. Sakura sighed in relief. "Finally! A clear lead on the Super Loser. I'll tell Jiraiya tonight, or do you want us to confirm the lead at the Shrine?"

"Second option," Sasuke said curtly, staring past Sakura. "Looks like we'll be scrimping earlier than expected, because we're going for quite a train ride."

Sakura followed his line of vision, which ended at a public map sign. They were a good thirty-minute walk away from the train station. Five minutes if they ran. Sakura took out their communal wallet and thumbed through the contents. "We have enough for a private carriage, direct ride to Kajin. I just can't believe it! We're finally catching up to Tsunade-hime."

Sasuke nodded. For years the hunter-nin could have gotten Tsunade back easily, seeing that as Chuunin, they'd done it easily. Even if she was the infamous slug-tamer Sannin, she had not approached kunoichi-ship for years, and one team of A-ranked ninja could bring her down. _There's something amiss. _

In the end, they still booked a private carriage, and took their time sleeping in the carriage.

Sasuke had fallen deep into sleep. In his dream, Kakashi was knocking on his bedroom door, telling him that the June wedding had been shifted to today, and Sakura was waiting impatiently. Out of the window Ino was shouting at him to throw the bouquet of flowers out of the window. His fan girls was screaming in the television. How it had turned itself on he did not know. Naruto suddenly came out of his toilet, wearing a long coat made of ramen. He rambled a good deal about the quality of the pulled noodle when…

_BAM. _Sasuke found himself on the carriage floor, his legs dangling on the seat. He rubbed his neck. It was sore. "Aww shit," he swore softly. _What the heck woke me up?_ The high, cheery voice of the train hostess wafted through the crack in the sliding door. She was waving a bell, and saying, "Please sirs, we have arrived at Kajin Shrine Eki! Please alight! We will be departing in fifteen minutes! Please alight, this is Kajin Shrine Eki! Thank you for boarding this train!"

Groaning and cursing, Sasuke shifted his weight to his knees and shook Sakura by the shoulder. She was wearing a black jacket over her beige and dull red outfit. "Shut up, Mom, I'm trying to slee…" She seemed to have awoken. "So… you did not just hear that, Uchiha Sasuke, or I'll pull your eardrums out myself."

"My ears were closed," he said sarcastically. "Come on, we have to go."

Sighing, Sakura rolled off her seat, then reached for the overhead racks. She passed Sasuke's haversack to him, then swung her own bag over her shoulders. Then she followed the Uchiha out onto the platform, and eventually out of the station, humming the tune of one of the Konoha folk songs, suiting her stride.

The Kajin Shrine was actually positioned above a small hike on a hill. At the foot of the hill was crammed with tourist stalls and gambling dens. Onsens had been carved into the rock and the place was crammed with people queuing in all directions it was impossible to move in the deadlock. The real shrine was surrounded by red and yellow leaves, and incense was steadily wafting out of a chimney.

Sasuke passed a capturing gaze over the crowd. Sakura knew his dilemna, so she said, "We should start from the Shrine, where it is the least crowded. Maybe we'll try clones too. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two Sakuras appeared beside her, and Sasuke mimicked her technique perfectly. The clones performed a "henge!" and transformed into other passerby, but recognizable by the similar build and nose so that they would not end up asking themselves. Finally, with excruciating slowness, they edged into the Kajin Shrine, which to their horror, was no less crowded than the outside, but the mass was merely cramped into the 'cage'.

It turned out that people were jostling to put their own joss stick into the incense eight-way tridrem cauldron of the Deity of Luck. As soon as the joss stick, big or small, thick or thin, expensive or cheap, was stuck in the ash, it was taken out almost immediately and the next batch was unceremoniously chucked in. Sasuke and Sakura escaped the chaos out into the courtyard, which was lined by the Eight Immortals which hailed the Deity of Gambling, and batches of people were kissing the saliva corroded feet.

"Excuse me," Sakura managed to call out loudly, but the man she was targetting ran by without looking at her.

"Excuse me!" She repeated firmly to another man, grabbing hold of his shoulder. "Do you know where we may find Densatsu kamo Tsunade?"

"Dunno the f- you're talking about, love, get outta th…" He turned back to look at her. "Did you, girl, by any chance say Tsunade? As in the Super Loser?"

"Yes!" Sakura shouted over the noise.

"What the shit! The Super Loser is here!" He screamed. Not in fear, but ecstasy.

The sound died as if the plug had been pulled. Heads turned, and stares of irritance and greed had transformed into wonder and awe. Someone in the masses demanded over the silence. "Where is she? I'm gonna earn my fortune from her! Which gambling den is it?"

"Damn it," Sakura cursed softly to herself. Now she had made a mess of things. If she had known Tsunade's voice would cause such a stir…! Her hands moved through handseals rapidly.

"Kawariimi no Jutsu!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The apparent success of Sasuke and Sakura's failure was evident in the depressing tone that they used over the phone.

"She gave us the slip," Sasuke said. He hated to admit it, but he had underestimated the slug Sannin for the excuse that she had left the Ninja Realm for a decade. Tsunade was good. "She has ten other similar 'trails' for hunter-nin like us to follow blindly. Other than that, we have no leads."

"Good to know Washboard is still up to her reputation," Jiraiya said. "At least she's putting in some effort to convince Konoha she's up to standard. Impressed, Uchiha?"

"Fairly," Sasuke said curtly. "What then, do you suggest, Jiraiya-_sama_?"

"I've got a plan coming through, but it needs to be activated. Tell you later. Lie low for now if you can. Call me in a week, same time," Jiraiya said easily, then hung up. It would be easier to confirm the success of his plan before he told the Uchiha. He knew Sasuke would be extremely frustrated, but that was something Jiraiya was willing to put up with, for the moment.

On the other end of the line, Sasuke yelled for the Sannin to wait, but his only reply was a 'click', then a steady, monotonous beep. Growling, he slipped their sim card out and slammed the phone. Then he whirled on Sakura and firmly pressed the sim card into her palm. "Next time," he hissed. "You talk to him. The guy's a real pain in the ass; he's going to get us all killed. I'll have to think of a eulogy for Naruto."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I really want to throttle him, right now! What's he playing at?"

"Apparantly we don't need to know," Sasuke said.

"Because we're immature in comparison to his old age," Sakura continued sarcastically. In the enemy's land with no orders whatsoever, they were that close from the gallows.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Jiraiya came back from his little telephone chat, Naruto was waiting for him whilst practising chakra control on the first stage of learning the Rasengan: bursting water balloons with nothing but the motion of chakra. Even with his vastly improved chakra control courtesy of his one-month pre-Third Test training, Naruto was still on his first balloon after a week.

"Ero-sannin, how was it, were they successful?"

"Of course not," Jiraiya said. "I know Tsunade's style. She won't be caught that easily unless you really know where to look."

"And where is that?"

Jiraiya hestitated. "You should concentrate on your training if you want to surprise your teammates, Uzumaki."

Naruto lowered his hand and looked at Jiraiya squarely. "Ero-sannin, I may look slow but at least I can tell if someone's changing the subject. Does it have something to do with the Akatsuki? I know you've been after them for ages. You've got to have some pretty useful contacts."

"Right on the nail, Uzumaki," Jiraiya said boredly. "I just have to reactivate them, but it won't be easy. I didn't tell any of you about this at first cos' I'm not one who loves owing people favours."

"I see," Naruto said. Then he turned back to his water balloon. As he focused on expanding his chakra in all directions, Naruto slowly said, "Ero-sannin. I know the Akatsuki are after me, so it'll seem tense, but I'm perfectly fine if it. I would prefer knowing the big picture than garbled facts, even at the expense of my comfort."

Jiraiya held Nauto's gaze. "Alright. As my apprentice, I suppose you earn a bit more respect than I would give a brat like you."

"We still aren't pals yet," Naruto warned. "So don't get all chummy with the apprentice-idea yet! It's unofficial!"

Jiraiya heaved a sigh. "Okay." He then dialed another number on the phone. After eight times, he had a signal.

"Jiraiya? I haven't heard from you for… ages! What do you want?"

"Total reactivation."

"Don't give me shit. You can't expect me to crap up the system after we left it alone for months."

"I'll wire you double the next time."

"…Fine. It'll be running in a week."

"Triple if you can do it in half."

"Deal. So who's the big bait? I never had the impression that you'd give any shit for any other crappy thing to your porn."

"We're doing business here, so keep the bad words down. I have a thirteen year old kid with me."

"Tell the shit to leave then."

"No. The target's Densatsu kamo Tsunade. The Sannin Tsunade. Slug Tamer. Greatest Medic of all time. Whatever."

"Specific details?"

"Spread the word, and I won't have to give it to you. Got that?"

"Okay. Tell your son I don't give a damn about the shit he hears."

"He's not my son! Hello? Hello?" Jiraiya slotted the sim card out of the phone. "Damn he hung up on me."

"Ero-sannin, you are… so lame," Naruto panned.

Jiraiya faked a pout. "Seriously, I should be thanked and awarded for my fool-proof method. Not even the Akatsuki could escape my sources, let alone Tsunade. …oops."

"Oops? Great to know our next Hokage won't survive the Akatsuki either," Naruto said. After that, he turned his back to the Sannin and continued his water balloon exercise.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In time, seventeen days had passed rapidly. Naruto was still stuck with Jiraiya in their hotel room. The Sannin had kept regular contact with every single one of his contacts, which mounted to forty-three. That afternoon, news hit like a sandstorm.

Ten calls pointing to one direction, the point where they had seen the Super Loser. Jiraiya gave instructions immediately. Eight were to trail Tsunade, while the other two was to contact the others and they would concentrate on Tsunade. Eighty nine hours later, they came to her location.

Naruto asked, "What about the others?"

"They'll come later. It's best I talk to Tsunade one on one first."

"What about me?"

"Got something for her."

"What is she a paedophile?" Naruto muttered. Then he asked loudly, "So you planned the pairing in the first place."

"Uh-huh."

Naruto groaned, "I'm stuck with a pervert."

"Shut up about the Ero-Sannin thing! Plus, there is no connection."

"Uh-huh, Ero-Sannin."

"Man, it's like you stepped into this world to piss me off."

Naruto looked away.

"What?" Jiraiya asked.

"Step off, you sodding bastard."

Jiraiya wrinkled his nose. Then realisation hit him hard. _Oh shit, what have I done? _He lay a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Hey, I shou-"

"Don't touch me!" Naruto shouted, and strugged the hand off violently. "Didn't you hear me? Step off if you can't stand my _filthy presence in you face_!"

"I didn't mean it that way, okay? I shouldn't have said that."

Naruto crossed his arms. "Good, Ero-Sannin. Cos I you say that again I'm gonna bust your ass."

"Okay, okay," Jiraiya said. "Just cool it."

"Let's just move on. Find the bitch."

It was a testament to Jiraiya's deep sense of regret that he forgot to rebuke Naruto for that comment.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. They stopped by at a shophouse adorned with faint red lanterns, outstaged with people. The one with bright yellow hair swaggered up to Jiraiya. His hard brown eyes rested on Jiraiya's horny head plate. "Money 'fore you get in. A thousand to each of us. We've ratted our asses. Peed our pants. Give."

Jiraiya slapped the money into Brown Eye's chest and the crowd parted like the Red Sea, Naruto trotting behind him. It was a queit dango shop. There was only three occupied tables, so it was easy to spot the esteemed Sannin.

Tsunade looked up even before Jiraiya moved forward. Her eyes widened. "Jiraiya…"

Her black haired associate twisted around sharply. "Jiraiya-sama!" Her eyes looked fearful.

Naruto looked the twenty year old Sannin up and down. "Hello, Super Loser-sama. It's bloody time we found you."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Author's Notes: **I eat reviews up. Snap them like I do pizzas. And I love pizza.


	27. Chapter Twenty Six Old Hag

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I am not Mother Nature, so I do not own maelstroms.**

Author's Notes: The school holidays have officially started for me, and I'm amazed how much school takes out of a person. I haven't felt this relaxed for six months.

Amazing thanks to my reviewers: **sn1ck3rd00dl3** and **Edengrave**. You people make me happy. Make my holidays even better.

**Twenty Six- Old Hag**

Haku was donning the Akatsuki uniform, and half of his head seemed to disappear around his shoulders because his dark hair matched the black cloak perfectly. If he loosened the zip none of this would happen, but Haku (even if he denied it) still half-retained his characteristics of Zabuzza's good pup. He looked half menacing as he should have by the doorway. "Kazuya!"

"What is it?" Kazuya asked. Something about Haku's voice chitted him out.

"Received a phone call from Tsukaa," Haku said. Kazuya slumped. "The Leader expects us in half an hour down the road."

Kazuya stood up and asked boredly, "And?"

"Nothing. The guy doesn't want us to prepare or rehearse anything. Guess he doesn't trust us," Haku said.

"He'd be a fool to," Kazuya replied curtly. "Next time, knock before you enter. Remember to breathe deeply in order to stimulate calming down and talk in a voice no louder than the closing of a door. Not slamming. Closing."

"Fuck your mouth," Haku said, then followed the younger member through the doorway. He was surprisingly relaxed from neck up, but tense down below. As he descended the stairway he had the inexplicable urge to turn around. Look up. Look down. Look Back. "Kazuya!"

"What?" Kazuya asked, sounding slightly irritated. He looked up at Haku's face. "What is it now? Are you sick? Do you need to go to the toilet urgently to barf your face senseless?"

"No," Haku retorted. _He is such a prick. _

Kazuya stopped walking and swiveled around slowly. He caught Haku's eye and held it. "Get over it. Relax. It's just one man, we're two." Once Haku looked as less green, he said, "Now stop being such a wuss. You'll get us both killed with your pale face."

They stepped onto the pavement. 'She' men were loitering around. When the Akatsuki approached, they shied away, taking refuge under their long hair. _At least they know how to take care of themselves_, Kazuya thought. He could smell Haku's apprehension, but he did not feel anything. Rather, he was on the alert, scanning his surroundings constantly. Nothing out of order.

Haku drew closer to Kazuya, then said in a low voice. "The Leader will meet us here."

Kazuya returned the slightest of nods. _That old hag wrapped in shawls? Or the 'She' man staring at us seducively? Hmph. This is a joke. Where is that son of a-_

They stopped walking. Not because they had seen the Leader, but twenty odd men were surrounding them. If the saying 'My bark is worse than my bite' ever applied to real life situations, this was it. They stank ten feet away. Fungus was growing out of their grimy faces. When they bared their teeth fearsomely they revealed shiny gold implants. Their dressing was quite varied with no uniform colour code, but the thing that identified them as one body was the red and blue linen that they tied around their foreheads.

But from the way they held their weapons, the Akatsuki could tell that they knew how to use them well enough to chop a wild boar senseless. Beside him, Haku shifted slightly. A motion to signal that he had armed himself, most probably with senbons. Kazuya activated his Sharingan. The unknown enemy might be able to take down two samurai each, but he could take down six. "Is this the welcome reception?"

One of them, the one with his left ear hacked off, raised his scythe threateningly and stepped forward, his teeth flashing. He would have been menacing if this wasn't the Akatsuki he was dealing with. Compared with the red cloud-checkered black cloaks, they looked like school bullies. "Our captain wants you." He laughed coldly, snot and mucus layering his words. "He said if you didn't come queitly we could hack your legs off for tonights dinner."

The men around him laughed as well. By now all of the common bystanders had either fled, or fainted on the spot. All doors and windows were jammed shut. A gust of wind gently blew a brown recycled paper across the road.

Kazuya jerked his head slightly. He and Haku had compiled a few sign languages for themselves. He had just silently asked: "Go?"

Haku shifted again and Kazuya could hear the senbons sliding back into the forearm holster. Obvious sign of compliance. So Kazuya asked, "Who is your captain and why does he want us? Who are you? Cannibals?"

Missing Ear chuckled and spoke again. "We are from the ship Kazeden. Wind Gate…"

Kazuya blinked. The Kazeden was a pirate ship that pillaged and plundered almost every island or dock. They were infamous for stealing Hidden Mist's Shodaime Hokage statuette, which was crafted out of precious stones and plated with pure gold. They were infamous, and even more so was the captain-

"…Ryoma Hebizo. But we're not here to answer your questions. So will you come queitly like good doggies or let us cleave your limbs off to roast?" The pirates giggled madly at this. The atmosphere was pumped with macho testosterone.

Kazuya stared them down with his Sharingan, and the musty air lightened a notch. Then he turned his cursed eyes off. "We'll come. Queitly."

Their malicious smiles dropped. Missing Ear looked horribly disappointed. "Fine! Then take out all of your weapons. All of them. If you've got a bomb hidden in your pants take that out too our we'll cook your balls for soup."

Kazuya smiled thinly back. Then he and Haku made a great show of unzipping their large cloaks and unfastening their belts that had weapons pouches latched to them. When he was done, he grinned openly. "Now I feel considerably lighter."

Missing Ear did not smile, but instead stepped forward with his scythe. "Yomumaru! Get their things."

Yomumaru complied, dropping his short sword on the ground and rushing forward to take the treasure. It was a mistake to leave himself unarmed. But then again, it would not have mattered.

Haku appeared behind him in a flash, then stabbed his hidden senbon into one of the major pressure points. An large intake of breath could be heard from the onlooking crowd of pirates. Then Yomumaru smiled. They smiled back, thinking that it would be all okay. _How wrong they are,_ Kazuya thought boredly. Suddenly yellow fluids spat out from Yomumaru's eyelids, nostrils, ears and mouth. Blood in his brain arteries had been clogged and exploded in three seconds, flooding the cranial fluid that cusions the brain from the skull. The usually clear thick fluid turned red from the blood, before bursting out from the head's various open-ended facets.

Haku took Yomumaru by the collar and flung the man forward into his snide comrades, and they crashed to the floor. Behind Haku, Kazuya flashed through various handseals, then leapt into the air. The pirates dazedly watched the S-ranked criminal raise his hand to his mouth, before aiming towards them like a pesticide nozzle to the insects. "Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

A thick dragon-shaped beam of inferno charged straight into Yomumaru, then traced the circle of pirates. The faster pirates scattered and dodged the flames. Even in the face of the burnt ashes, they still wore expressions of expected gore and smiled wildly. The one with a missing eye even laughed at the smell of burning hair. It was twelve to two, and they thought they could win.

Kazuya gestured coldly at the blackened corpses. "They may be a bit too well done, but they are crispy. Are you gonna go all crazy too? My and my partner, we don't mind waiting for you to have lunch.

Eyeless glared drunkenly at Kazuya and raised his sword up. The ninja smirked knowingly- then disappeared.

"What the fu-!" His voice cut off as Kazuya stabbed the kunai into his throat. With his other hand he disarmed Eyeless by taking the sword, then stabbed Missing Ear in the heart. With a war cry, the other pirates rushed forward. Every movement was captured by Kazuya's Sharingan, so he smoothly unsheathed the sword off Eyeless' dead body, whirled, and sliced apart a guy with a broad sword.

Following up with his slice, Kazuya drew another kunai and it hurled dead centre between the eyes of a charging pirate. He crumpled, blood spurting out of his eyelids. Kazuya backflipped, dodging a stab from a guy with a crooked nose whilst taking him out at the same time. Suddenly someone from behind gripped him at the back of his neck and threw him to the side. He stumbled, then crashed violently into the pavement. When he opened his eyes again, a sword was already making its way down. Instinctively, Kazuya pulled out a kunai and deflected the blade into the ground beside his head. Reaching out, he then grabbed his attacker's face and said. "Screw you. Flash Charge!"

Metres away, Haku was taking out the pirates almost gracefully, twisting through the air, his cloak floating behind him. In swift, fluid movements he killed the pirates with his senbons, which he now kept at his waist pouch instead of as a hair pin like he used to. The pirates were surprised when he lifted his cloak all the way to reveal his hidden extra weapons pouch. His eyes were cold and merciless as he smashed one of them's head on the sidewalk like an egg. He straightened up, smoothing the creases on his cloak indifferently, and his glare pierced through everyone of them, as if daring them to move.

Around him, Kazuya could see that his opponents were hesitating too. He made brief eye contact with Haku. _Extreme Flash Charge won't work. I might kill them, but in effect kill Haku too. _He blinked once. _It's up to you. _Haku turned away.

"Hyouten!"

The pirates blinked wildly. The temperature cascaded and their breathe drew ice particles in the air. One of them reached out at his breath. "Ice!"

Clear, cutting icicles formed in the air. The cold must have jammed the pirates' brain, because they reacted too slowly to the various spear heads point towards them.

"Sensatsu Seisho! (Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Captain Ryoma Hebizo was ravenously sampling the lemon-marinated roast boar which had been taken onto the deck. For weeks his crew and he had been living off sea biscuits, preserved beef and pickles. So it was all very well that he sank his teeth through the flavoured crispy skin into the juicy soft meat with the rigour he possessed. According to his first mate they had stolen it off a first-class restaurant before burning it to ashes. Hebizo chuckled, not feeling sorry for the restaurant owner's plight at all.

A less-than-manly scream, then a great splash of water, forced Hebizo out of his stupor. He threw his quarter doors open and shouted, "What the hell!" Then he saw his visitors. "Akatsuki bitches. You just killed one of my men. You owe me a hundred credits."

The taller Akatsuki member, whose head seemed to disappear around his cloak, said, "Seeing that twenty of your men are gone, it doesn't matter."

Hebizo visibly narrowed his eyes. "You killed them?"

"Of course. An invitation letter would have been better," Haku said. He unzipped his cloak to show that he was unarmed. "Now we want to talk to you."

Hebizo's lips curved cruelly. "Why should I let you live after you took out a third of my crew."

"Because you'll hate to die not knowing what we wanted to say," Haku replied easily. He saw Hebizo's smile drop as the man descended the wooden steps and drew level with him. "So? Why will I hate to die?"

This time Kazuya answered. "Tell us why you wanted to meet us."

Hebizo rolled his eyes. "Because… I heard you were in the area. I wanted a bit of leverage with with you Leader."

"That is all?" Kazuya asked in a cold voice.

Hebizo smiled sweetly. "That is all."

Then the ship blew up.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Behind the ship on the dock, Haku and Kazuya stared at the blazing debris indifferently. The clones that had gone onboard relayed all the information to their originals when they disappeared. Once they were sure that the Leader was not testing them with Hebizo, the exploding notes stapled to the hull of the ship went off, killing Kazeden's captain and crew immediately.

Kazuya turned to Haku. "Next time you see your traitorous contact, please kill him."

He could see the cold rage barely suppresed in Haku's eyes. "Oh I will. Splendidly."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About seven villages north of the Akatsuki, Uzumaki Naruto was glaring at Tsunade. Two minutes into meeting his prospective Godaime Hokage and they were at loggerheads. In his mind, there was no way he would accept this ugly old bitch as his leader. No way at all. She had verbally insulted the Sandaime's grave, saying that only fools become Hokages, and that these fools die. Not only did it insult the Sandaime, but it also hurt Naruto's pride, whose lifegoal was to become the next Hokage and earn respect from his villagers. "Are you saying that the old man was a fool?"

Tsunade put on a splended performance about heaving a great sigh and rolling her eyes. "I think I said it loud enough, kid. Jiraiya, who is this bitch that you've brought here?"

Naruto gripped the table he was holding onto tightly. "Who're you calling bitch, bitch? For you info, I am a self respecting member of the male population!"

Tsunade waved him off. "But you scream like a girl. Jiraiya, is this bitch telling the truth? You seriously, seriously want me to become the Godaime? Get a hold of yourself… I don't wanna to be labeled a fool who gives his life up easily."

Before Jiraiya could reply, Naruto slammed the table for attention, and the tea cups on the table went two feet high. Tsunade's companion and pig squealed at the mess. "Look here, old hag! I don't care how young you look, but I'll smash your girly face in if you insult the Hokage!" He jerked his head. "Let's take this outside."

Tsunade stood up and followed Naruto in amusement. _Who the heck is this bitch? _She mouthed to Jiraiya. Jiraiya shrugged in exasperation and exchanged looks with Shizune. "She's at it again."

"I apologise, Jiraiya-sama! I didn't expect her to react so…"

"…childishly," Jiraiya said. He smirked. "Once she looks at Naruto closer, though, I think he'll change his mind."

Shizuna looked at her pig quizically then hurried out of the shop.

_I'm gonna show this bitch-swearing woman! Kick ass! _Naruto thought angrily. He did not know it, but Tsunade's taunts had caused him to unconciously forget about all of his troubles and worries, Team Seven falling out, Rukawa beind kidnapped, and the Akatsuki who were after him. All he wanted to do now was what he wanted to do for his whole life, something that he had pinpointed clearly as a young child. That Hokages were respectable people, and it was his goal to become one, and no traitorous loser was going to put his dream down so easily. "For being such a hazardous bitch, I think I should give you a nickname."

Tsunade grinned. "What?"

"_OLD HAG._" Naruto said, smiling ferally.

Tsunade frown and shot a death glare at Jiraiya. "You've brought a bratty kid who smells, walks, and talks like you. Who is he? Your porn novelist protégé?"

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's Number One Loudest, Unpredictable, Hyperactive Ninja. Believe it!"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes boredly at him. "And now I can see that." She raised her index finger. "With one finger I'll beat you down, bitch."

_Poof. _The boy in front of her disappeared. On instinct, Tsunade whirled around.

"It's Uzumaki Naruto to you, old hag! Wind Cutter no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted. Almost visible chakra wind blades spiralled towards the Sannin. Then Naruto crossed his hands, each hand performing the Ram seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Meanwhile, Tsunade was backpedalling from Naruto's Wind Technique to barter for more time. Then suddenly, she ducked down and leapt high in the air over the technique. Naruto's four Shadow Clones jumped after her, pulling out kunais. They clashed in mid air. With a sweep of her index finger, Tsunade dispatched one of his clones, then they landed on the ground. The only thought that ran through her mind was: _Maybe I shouldn't have been too cocky with the one-finger thing. _Years of relinquishing her duty as a kunoichi had dulled her senses and now she could barely concentrate on her next tactic.

One clone cocked his fist back and delivered a shocking roundhouse to Tsunade's blind side, sending her reeling forward. Naruto Clone Number Two was already prepared, and delivered a spin kick to her jaw. Tsunade flipped over and crashed into the road.

Immediately, Naruto released his Shadow Clones and they disappeared with a puff of residue smoke. With Tsunade reeling on the floor coughing blood, he had time enough to conjure his technique. Blue chakra spiralled into his hand into a perfect sphere. "RASENGAN!"

Tsunade jerked at the name of technique and looked up. Naruto roared and charged at her, plunging the Rasengan forward. Mustering her old speed as Konoha's Sannin, she shot into the air, with one finger she stabbed into Naruto's chest just next to his right shoulder. Immediately his ligament tore and the main tenketsu which directed chakra to the rest of his hand was shocked to oblivion and the Rasengan died. Tsunade did not stop in her onward charge and flipped over Naruto's shocked form. Naruto turned around, unable to move the rest of his body. _What the fu…!_

At the same time, Tsunade ducked and produced one finger and shoved it up Naruto's butt. It was not the thumb, the pinkie, the index, or the ring. It was the one you gave when you wanted to scream to the person that you did not give a moment's hoot about him. She shouted, "Sennen Goroshi! (Thousand Years of Pain)"

Jiraiya and Shizune winced at his pained expression as Naruto shot into the air over ten feet of pebbled path before crashing into the ground, his crotch sizzling soundly.

Tsunade straightened up and smirked pointing her middle finger at Naruto. "It'll be a hundred years before you can beat me, bitch."

Shizune walked worriedly over to her master. "Tsunade-sama, your face."

Tsunade swiped her hand over her mouth. "Oh, this is nothing." Then she looked at the crimson smear on the back of her hand. Her eyes widened. "Oh my god… is this…" Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. "…blood…?"

Densatsu kamo Tsunade swooned on the spot.

Jiraiya looked wearily at the two figures lying comfortably on the ground and for the second time slapped a hand to his face. _This will be just hell. _

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The owner of the dango shop was a humble elderly local who ran his business with his wife, son, and daugher-in-law. Above his shop were three rooms for tourists to stay in, an escapade from the usual perverse hub-hub of Lightning Country. The third floor was for his family and he to live in.

For once in his decent life, the owner found all three of his rooms occupied at the same time. While they were people devoid of the sick life (little did he know he was hosting the author of bestselling Icha Icha Series), they were extremely violent people by the looks of it, and he was afraid to host them. Already the young lady and the yellow haired boy had fought outside their shop and were bleeding in his rooms. His daughter-in-law had to constantly fetch tubs of hot water, clean towels, and first-aid materials.

Naruto was groaning twenty-four/seven, clutching an ice pack to his bruised balls with his left hand. His right was rendered immobile and held in place by bandages. Tsunade's companion, Shizune, was slowly using chakra to heal his shoulder.

"Thanks," Naruto muttered when she was done.

Shizune smiled kindly. Then she looked hestitantly down at his crotch. "Should I?"

Naruto turned red within a span of two seconds. "No! I mean, no thanks!"

Shizune blushed but chuckled. "I didn't mean it that way. If you use your own hand to hold it and blank chakra from that area, I can touch your hand instead and channel the chakra through to heal… you."

Naruto heaved a sigh of relieve and let her continue her treatment.

Jiraiya slid the door open and walked in. Thankfully he did not make any misleading presumptions of his apprentice's actions. The situation must have been to grave to do anything like that. "Shizune, Tsunade is up. I think you should go to her now. The kid can heal his thing by himself with the Kyuubi, can't you, Naruto?"

"I guess so, but I don't like the idea of the fox squeezing my balls," Naruto grumbled.

_**Brat, I have no desire to touch any part of you. **_

"Stupid fox," Naruto muttered. "Just get on with it. By the way, Ero-sannin, why the heck did the Old Hag faint? She won, didn't she?"

Jiraiya looked uncomfortable. "You see… she has a fear of blood."

Naruto went silent for a few moments. His yellow spikes shadowed his eyes as he said in a low voice, "Our Godaime… will have a fear of blood? Like Sasuke said, we can't trust some one who skirted out when times were down, but now you tell me our Protector can't even fight? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING?"

"Calm down."

"Konoha is going to freaking die if something like that happens. Just because you don't want to take up the job! You're a coward!" Naruto accused. His mind was raging like wild fire, and he did not want to calm down just saw that the pervert Sannin could have it easy. Who did these deserters think they were?

"Shut up!" Jiraiya said murderously. "Don't think you've grasped the whole situation, boy. Tsunade _is _the only person up for the job. The Council are right assholes when they need to be, but I've thought this through. With the civil wars and half our healers dead, we need Tsunade who can raise our morale. She is a Sannin, and the name will be enough to bring hope to the people. She has done more missions than you can imagine, so she has the experience that a Hokage will require."

Naruto closed his eyes, but he was not going to let the matter go… yet. "So she has the qualifications. She fills in the freaking job requirements. But then what? What fights can she hold if she's afraid of a bit of blood. What's more, she doesn't care about being Hokage. No dedication, just a loudmouthed bitch. You think any of us will let her become our Godaime?"

"I know," Jiraiya said forcefully. "That she has many things not up to par. She just needs time to be adjusted, okay?"

Naruto huffed and turned away.

Jiraiya messed his hair up. "Okay, okay! I'll take her to have a drink tonight. Talk. Now go away."

Naruto beadily turned back and stared at the Sannin. "What do you mean? This is my room, Ero-sannin. I'm the injured one here."

Jiraiya left the room, and Naruto fell back into his pillow, grouchily staring at the sky. _I wonder if Ero-Sannin has told Sasuke and Sakura yet. What's his beef with the Uchihas anyway? Damn, I feel really homesick now. I just wish they were here. Ha! I fought with a Sannin and emerged alive! That'd be a story to tell Shikamaru. _

Naruto lay in bed until dusk fell and night flew in. Sounds of 'She' man activity leaked through the window, and the blonde thirteen year old felt sick just listening to the noises. The smell of broiling beef and cabbages wafted through the doorway, permeating his anal senses. Moments later Shizune came in, balancing a tray in each hand. Her ugly pug of a pig squealed behind her. It glared at Naruto, then sulked behind Shizune as she arranged both trays on the floor.

One each tray was a bowl of miso soup, rice, and a metal stand where beef and cabbage strips were steaming. Shizune smiled kindly. "Jiraiya-sama is taking Tsunade-sama out for dinner, so I decided we should have dinner together."

Naruto murmured a word of thanks and collected his chopsticks from her. He asked softly, "By the way… how's Old Hag?"

"She's fine. No permanent damage. I have healed her. She just needs time to rest," Shizune said.

Naruto slurped up his soup. "Ah… this stuff is good. So, you've been following the hag forever, how do you feel about her becoming Hokage?"

"She's a really good candidate, I suppose," Shizune said.

"But how do you feel about it?"

"Naruto-kun, I know you haven't had a good impression of Tsunade-sama. But if she accepts the position, I would be overjoyed. I think a lot of the older ninja back in Konoha would be happy too. She was a good leader who proposed many reforms that saved the lives of countless men. She was the one who suggested we should have a four man cell with a medic in every team. She made many of the greatest contributions to medical history. Until my uncle died, she was the kunoichi that any woman would want to be," Shizune said sadly.

Naruto looked up. "Your uncle?"

"He was my father's brother, but we were more like cousins. Tsunade-sama was engaged to him. They were on the same team when he died in front of her. His lungs had been punctured, there was a hole in his body. There was no way she could have saved him because he had lost five pints of blood. She went through trauma after that, but because she was on the top of the medic list, all the other medics didn't know how to help her. She thought she was cursed."

"Cursed?"

"By the necklace her grandfather, the Shodaime had given her. Before that she had given her ototo, Nawaki the necklace. The next day he died, horribly. So was it with Dan. Which is why she wears the necklace everyday, hoping that she'll die."

Naruto frowned.

Shizune paused, before saying, "You look like her brother. You resemble him so much Tsunade-sama was shocked."

"Me?"

Shizune nodded. "He…!"

"YOU PERVETED HERMIT! HAVE YOU BEEN SPENDING SO MUCH TIME WITH YOURSELF THAT YOU'VE BECOME STUPID? SENILE? GET THE F--- OUT OF MY FACE!"

_**Crash. Crash. Crash. **_The sound of a body making its way through many walls. Naruto was hardly surprised when Jiraiya flew into the room through the door, looking like minced meat. One thing he had observed from his fight was that Tsunade had a hell lot of strength that was so frightening he could have pissed in his pants if Tsunade had not blocked his asshole.

"Whatever it was, Ero-sannin, you deserve it," Naruto panned at the twitching mess.

A dark aura followed Tsunade as she stomped into the room. With one hand she lifted Jiraiya off the floor, holding him by the collar. Then with a large heave, she flung him through the window onto the streets. _**Boom. **_Several screams.

Tsunade turned to Shizune, ignoring Naruto as if he was not there. "Shizune, we're leaving. Best go before that stupid idiot comes after me."

"But Tsunade-sama, Konoha needs you!"

"To heck with that," the Sannin said, and made to stride out of the door.

Naruto made a decision he did not know that months later he would come to regret. After listening to Shizune's side of the story, the Old Hag seemed to be the best option of a Hokage, apart from the stupid excuse of leaving Konoha and being afraid of blood. So he stood up and blocked her from the exit.

Tsunade acknowledged him for the first time. "Move it, bitch."

"Don't you menstruate?" Naruto asked.

This caught everyone off guard. 'Wuwhat?"

"Don't you menstruate? When you have your period don't you see blood? How do you deal with that? Cover your eyes whenever you switch pads? Hmm? Or do you…" Naruto was caught off guard as Tsunade caught him by the lapels and hoisted him up into the air, threatening to do the same as she had with Jiraiya.

"What the hell do you want?"

Naruto pierced her with her determined blue eyes. Tsunade felt something within her click. The expression on his face matched the expression she had seen on two faces many years ago. It was an expression that she missed and longed for on many lonely nights. "My dream is to become the Hokage…"

Tsunade's mind reeled. She was seeing Nawaki and Dan saying the same thing all over again.

"…and be acknowledged by everyone! And as future Hokage I'm not gonna let you walk over my job-to-be like a dirty carpet!" Naruto declared.

Tsunade glared up at him. Naruto recoiled. _Is she gonna hit me?_ Then, to his shock and surprise, she lowered him to the ground. When he stared up into her eyes, he was amazed to find tears welling into her eyes. She walked regally to the broken window and shouted to the floor. "Jiraiya! Get your ass off the sidewalk and take me to Konoha!"

Naruto's eyes lit up, then he exchanged grins with Shizune. _Thank you_, she mouthed. Naruto shrugged his shoulders, then said loudly, "Godaime-sama! Could you please remove yourself from my room? I have a f—king good dinner to finish. Oh, and tell Ero-Sannin to inform my teammates of where we are."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Okay. Towards the end of this chapter I got so pissed off I almost plagued the entire section with what nots. But now it is taken care of. I won't kid myself because I am still pissed off.

So, I decided that Tsunade meeting Naruto would be a good thing. With all the stress that he's under, meeting a woman just as crazy as one can get will be a good thing. And I know I've done a bit too much explaining in the dialogues, but I thought it was necessary.

You might think Kazuya's a little different from the last chapter, but seriously, he hasn't appeared enough to reveal what's he like. He is different from when we first saw him in this story because he has been emotionally changed by Team Seven. I have to admit, I'm still used to writing 'Rukawa', so using 'Kazuya' makes me feel as if I'm mixing Chinese with English.

To be honest, I've been hoping for a little more reviews. I mean, I don't continue my story for the sake of reviews, but they are appreciated, and they let me know that my story is at least worth reviewing. They motivate me. Cheer me up when I have a bad day. So thanks for reading this chapter, but even more thanks if you leave a note by pressing the blue button.

QUESTION: Yes, I have a question. It hit me when I was replying a review. Should I do the three year time skip too?

Thanks a lot, wertyit.


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven Split

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Author's Notes: **I'm freaking out. Thankfully I've got Naruto REAL as my therapy. Damn the homework just keeps popping out. Surveys, reports, presentations, essays… and a gnome to finish. Wish me luck.

As always, thanks to **Sn1ck3rD00dl3 **who never fails to make my day with a review! Thank you.

**Chapter Twenty-Seven- Split**

Jiraiya and Naruto led Tsunade, Shizune, and the pig Tonton to the rendezvous, Kasuikan. There they met Sasuke and Sakura, who had taken off their disguises as Hidden Rain ninjas. After introductions and leaving first impressions, they set off for Konoha. That night, Team Seven huddled near the campsite for a discussion.

"Yo," Naruto said. He eyed the sleeping forms of the Sannin warily. If they listened in… "I heard from Ero-Sannin already. The condition in Leaf is almost worst case scenario. He says that the village wants to know why and how the Sandaime died. Worst is if the Council decides to use us as scapegoats. I'm guessing it won't be pretty."

Sakura's eyes dimmed. "We've got a lot on our plate for the moment. Let's try to prioritize things. We want to get stronger… isn't that our top priority?"

Sasuke nodded. "Uh-huh. Don't worry about what the village thinks of us. Leave that to me. The plan of taking time off for individual training was a good one. The results were fair, but it wasn't exceptional. And we didn't contribute in any way to the village. We need… something else."

Their thoughts emptied the silence. Crickets chirped. The fire crackled. Sakura then said, "Team training? If we train together, and take up missions, we'll be able to constantly gauge our performance."

"It'll be too slow," Naruto said. "I hate to say this, but we've gotta split up and find mentors. The difference in our abilities isn't in leaps and bounds, and our styles are incompatible and we will only be forced to change them. But if we pit ourselves against people who are better than us, we'll get better."

Sasuke tapped the branch they were sitting on rhythmically. Naruto waited patiently for the response of his teammates.

"Good point. But where do we get someone who's willing to take us for three years?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto lowered his eyes and shifted uncomfortably. "Well… I've got Ero-Sannin."

Naruto kept his eyes to the ground, wondering if they would think it was unfair. To his surprise, Sakura threw an arm around his shoulder consolingly and said cheerfully, "Great! That leaves only two left."

Naruto looked up.

"Me too," Sasuke said, smirking at Naruto's reaction.

The discussion was closed. They stood up on the branch high above the ground and prying ears, looking at each other, knowing that in a month's time or less, they wouldn't see each other for a long, long time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hidden Leaf's North post was guarded by a four-man cell of Chuunin. For the entire week nothing eventful other than standard protocol happened, but that afternoon, two Sannin showed up. For the first time in a decade, a Sannin was seen together with his/her colleague. They nearly dropped their jaws. Their only kunoichi scuttled up to Tsunade timidly, "Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama!" She didn't have anything intelligent to say.

Her eyes travelled from the big-breasted Tsunade to the demure Shizune, from the tall Jiraiya to the fat, meatball Ton Ton. Then her eyes fell on Team Seven, and they darkened. She strode up to Sasuke and demanded to see their credentials. After determining that the paperwork was accurate, she motioned to her other team members. "By order of the Council, the three of you are to be detained and brought to Koharu-sama immediately for questioning. Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama, please excuse us."

Sasuke held his head high and pierced the kunoichi with a defiant glare. "Under what charges?"

"For dereliction of duty which resulted in the Sandaime's death," she answered. Then, as if to ask him to 'shut the f- up', she continued, "You have the right to remain silent."

Her dark haired teammate came up to Naruto first, staring down at him with a clear disgust. He raised a pair of handcuffs…

"Wait!"

Naruto turned to look at Tsunade. _What? _She stared back at him, a grin curving her lips. Still grinning innocently, she stepped towards the kunoichi. The kunoichi obviously saw the dangerous glint in the Sannin's eye, for she stumbled back a step. "Look, thanks for the butt peppering, but no thanks. Who's to say I am a Sannin? What if I'm a spy? You didn't check my credentials, and yet you turned your back to me. That in itself warrants a heavy punishment for _deriliction of duty_, kunoichi." She grinned malovently. "I'll be heading to the Hokage Tower, so I'll bring them there. Get back to your post!"

"H-hai!"

"What's your name?" Jiraiya demanded. The kunoichi withered under his gaze. "Hyuuzen Megumi, Jiraiya-sama!"

"Well, Hyuuzen-san, I'll be sure to leave a note at your superior's desk about your performance! I didn't expect Konoha's Chuunin standards to drop so low."

"H-hai!" She saluted them as they passed the gates into the village, wide eyed and shivering.

Naruto had a good laugh at that. His levity did not last long. Somehow the streets that day was fuller than usual. It was good to see that the reconstruction job had been completed, but the stares that the villagers were giving them were threatening. He could not tell if it was the Sannin walking in front of him, or them. He had a feeling it was the latter. His usual carefree grin had dropped.

"I knew it was the monster's team!"

"They should never have let him become a ninja! They should have killed him."

"Look. That Uchiha had a bright future. _He _must have brainwashed him."

"I know Haruno. She was a sweet kid, then she ran out on her mother. Must be Uzumaki."

"Monster! Get out of the village, bastard!"

The villagers made no effort to conceal their hisses. Naruto's eyes widened, then narrowed bitterly. He had to force himself to move forward slowly, instead of turning around and dashing away. He could feel their hateful glares, he could sense their resentment. All at once his sense of loneliness, worthlessness hit him. Naruto felt his eyes prickling. _No, no, no! Why should you care about what they say? They're ignorant, they're not wrong for hating the Kyuubi! …but why me! Don't-DON'T ACT LIKE A F-CKING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIAL! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN BAWL YOUR EYES OUT LIKE A CRYBABY! YOU'RE GONNA BECOME HOKAGE! NOT A F-CKING COWARD! _

Somebody touched his arm. Naruto looked up, wincing as if he expected to be hit. Sakura saw his reaction and looked at him in concern. "Naruto, are you okay?"

The contact was brief, but Naruto relaxed at the soft, warm fingers that met his elbow. He grinned ferally. "What sort of question is that? Of course I'm okay!"

"Girl, get away from him! He'll kill you!" Some woman shouted hysterically.

"HEY!"

Everyone froze.

Tsunade put her hands on her hips and pierced every single person around them like sausages on a pitchfork. "The Sandaime's ban still stands! So if I hear even a sqeauk about how all of you are frightened by a sexy blonde, I'll shove my fingers up his ass! Or hers. Regardless!"

Everyone sweatdropped. But they reached the Hokage Tower without any more verbal abuse. Tsunade strode confidently through the corridors and into the Hokage's office. She smiled nostalgically at the desk that reeked of Sarutobi's personal effects, then went behind the desk before dropped dramatically into the large leather bound chair that demanded respect. She chuckled indulgently for a moment, to the bizarre surprise to her companions. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged looks. Tsunade's head snapped up and speared them again with her trademark pitchfork glare, this time complemented by a wicked smile. "It feels good to be the Godaime!"

She rubbed her hands. "Down to business before I meet the Council. I s'pect Koharu'll shove her bum into my lips and expect me to give it a little kiss. Like hell I will. Hmmm… down to business…. Uchiha!"

"Hai!" _Oh my god. Is she drunk? _

"As the leader of your team, you better take responsibility for… let's see, dereliction of duty!"

"Hai." _What the… She is drunk. Or insane. Maybe insane. _

"In order to punish you, from now on I'll be assigning you missions no less than B-rank in hopes that you'll die someday! And I'll put you on the ANBU waiting list!"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," he said respectfully. He could see how she was playing it now. "However, with your permission I might add that assigning missions is within the Council's circle of control!" _Most definitely insane. _

"No! Not anymore!" Tsunade slammed a hand on the table. "I've been hearing some derelictions of duties about this, so I'll change the rules and make the paperwork mine. Ha ha! I'm the Hokage! I'm the Hokage!"

"Oh my god, my Hokage is a crazy bitch," Naruto muttered, voicing the sentiments of everyone in the room. Tsunade glared at him. "Uzumaki… report!"

"Hai!"

"You've been a right prick to me ever since we've met. This is no way you'll be treating your Godaime. I heard you've got business with the Akatsuki, hmmm? Well you'll need someone who can train you… who else other than the teacher of the Yondaime? I order you to be Jiraiya's apprentice!"

"Hai! Pervet-Sannin-sama!"

Jiraiya winced.

"Haruno!"

"Hai!"

Tsunade stared at the girl thoughtfully. For several moments, no one moved. Finally- "I dunno what to do to you."

"I see," Sakura said, sweat dropping. A tint of red appeared on her cheeks. "Then, Hokage-sama, I…" She took a deep breath. "Will you accept me as your apprentice?"

Sasuke's eyes widened and he turned to look at her. His brother always said that Sakura would be a better genjutsu user, like Kurenai. _But a medic? With inhumane superpowers?_ He did not think he could quite bear to have Wonder Woman in her bikini suit in the team. His eyes bugged at the fantasy.

Tsunade scrutinised the thirteen year old looking nervous yet determined in front of her. She could see that even though her teammates were standing beside her, her shadow yearned for them. Her eyes told volumes of the lengths she would go to save either of them. Tsunade could read her sense of yearning. In an instant she knew that the pink-haired girl was capable of becoming a medic. And a damned good one. "Accepted."

Sakura's sombre faced cracked into a wide smile. "Thank you, Hokage-sama!"

"Sensei!"

"H-hai! Sensei!" She exchanged glances with Naruto and Sasuke, and her eyes dimmed. She looked serious. It was settled. Hardly a few nights and they would already be apart, linked only by their will and goals. Tears welled in her eyes, but she surpressed the urge to cry.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the crack of dawn. Pink was only just spilling over the corners of the dark sky now. Naruto had got up early to avoid the vehement stares of his fellow villagers. If anything, he wanted his last memory of Konoha to be a pleasant one, for once. They were living in the Uchiha Mansion, but when Naruto left, Sasuke and Sakura were sound asleep. He smiled longingly at them. _At least it saves me from the soppy farewells and tears. _With a final glance he was gone.

The Uchiha district looked worst when it was dark. Wind that whittled through the wooden cracks sung and eerie tune, and the many shadows looked as if the dead souls were looking at you. Naruto shuddered. He did not believe in any religion, but hoped that Sasuke and Itachi had paid their respects regularly.

Finally, the Uchiha district broke off into the main road. Naruto passed by fish mongers carting freshly caught marine life of all sorts. Salmon, tuna, promphet, squid, octopus, crab. Ducking their heads under straw hats, Naruto was pleased they could not see him. He passed by a tea shop, where the old lady who manned the store was raising the metal door which guarded her store nightly.

Naruto looked up. The West gate glared down at him. Finally, he turned around, wanting to gaze at the Hokage monument for one last time. Instead, he saw Sasuke and Sakura walking towards him. "Oh!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What sort of greeting is that?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Well, you know… Ah, shut up. You're confusing me."

"Can we save the petty squables for later?" Sakura demanded. Her eyes softened. "Naruto, we came to say good bye."

_Well, duh_, Sasuke thought to himself. "Ano… Make sure you don't come back a pervert, at least not more than you already are, Naruto. Make sure he doesn't touch you. Make sure you don't feel a need to rape every woman you see. Make sure you-"

"Oh shut up. I promise I won't come back wanting to give Sakura sweet love," Naruto said mischieviously, obviously checking the kunoichi out. She punched him.

"You idiot! Take care, and," she paused, checking her weapons holster. When she withdrew her hand and wrapped package was in her fist. "This is from Hinata. She wanted to come personally, but you know… family rules and all. It would be suspiscious if she came out. She wished you good luck, and come back safe."

Naruto took the package. "Thanks. Tell Hinata 'I will'."

Sakura nodded.

"So, this is where the road splits for the three of us," Sasuke said suddenly. "Ja. See you later, Naruto."

"Sayonara, Naruto!" Sakura waved before she skipped after the Uchiha, who was almost running.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at their hastened departure. _What the… _A hand came on his shoulder like Godzilla on ice.

With dark foreboding Naruto turned around, his eyes trailing up the large hand. _Oh no… _The hand came from a green spandex clad, helmet haired bob head, thick browed, sparkling teethed man. "YOSH, NARUTO! I HEARD YOU LEAVE TODAY ON A GRAND EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH OF THE POWER OF YOUTH! WELL, I WISH YOU GOOD LUCK IN HOPES THAT YOU WILL FIND IT WITHIN YOUR HEART!"

Naruto tried to make himself smaller. _So that's why they were in such a hurry to leave. Those two idiots! _

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emerging from their grand excapade from Maito Gai was successful, Sakura veered away from Sasuke to report to the Hokage Tower for her first day of training.

As for Sasuke, he had shoved his hands into his pockets and dropped by onto Hatake Kakashi's balcony. He rapped on the closed glass sliding door.

No answer.

"Oi! Kakashi!"

No answer.

"Get your lazy ass up! I know you're there."

No answer.

Sasuke sighed. "If I don't see you now I'll Goukakyuu your house and all your crappy porn novels were burn in hell with you!"

"Yo, Sasuke. Calm down," said a voice behind him. _And stop insulting my Icha Icha collection. _

Sasuke swerved around and acknowledged the voice. "Kakashi."

"Yo," the ANBU repeated. He was squating on the railings, lazily saluting the young Uchiha. "I saw your name on the ANBU waiting call list. Even with your status as genius Uchiha sad to say you're near the bottom. We don't really pay attention to rookie Chuunin."

Sasuke smirked. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. Now I have all the more reason to blow all of you away."

Kakashi kept his nonchalant façade as he cut to the chase. "Want me to train you?"

Sasuke nodded almost sheepishly. "I know this is a bit much for an ANBU captain, but maybe if you could intern me…"

"Sorry, outta the question," Kakashi interrupted. "If I could, maybe. But as a captain, I don't have the right to compromise my duty in any way. Sorry about that."

"It's okay," Sasuke muttered, the made to swing across the balcony to the ground. "Thanks, though. And sorry for waking you up."

"Wait!"

"Hmmm?"

"Go ask your brother. He returned from his mission yesterday. He's probably awaiting the paperwork to get through now."

"Paperwork?"

"Resignation from captaincy. He's going solo exclusively, I've heard. Sometimes rookie soloists can take partners along. 'Sides, he was supposed to overlook Rukawa's ANBU entrance exam, so he won't have an excuse not to be able to conduct internship for you."

Sasuke grinned. "Thanks, Kakashi."

"No prob."

Pleased with his visit, Sasuke walked towards the ANBU Headquarters. They had bunks for their members. ANBU operatives rarely came home, instead crashing overnight for weeks until their next mission. Not only were A and S-ranked missions many and close between, but you could almost positively say that more than half of the ANBU there enjoyed the adrenaline of their work.

True enough, Itachi was lazing on his metal-framed futon. His ANBU uniform strewn across the floor. As captain, Itachi had a room to himself, unbothered by a roommate. Sasuke had been there for a few times already, so the ANBU ninjas were not surprised to see him pass by. Itachi popped one eye open. "Surprised to see you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Aniki. Did your solo application get through?"

"Yep. Got through the first round. I'll know in a week. Meantime I've got all the free time to spend with my cute little brother."

"Whatever. Well, I've got a favour…"

Itachi popped both eyes open. He had seen Sasuke's name on the waiting list. _He can't be serious. _

"I was wondering if you could train me, under an internship or something."

Itachi lifted his pillow over his eyes. "No."

"Why?"

"I don't want to."

"Like I care, Aniki."

"ANBU's a sad life, Ototo," Itachi said mock-warningly.

"I know."

"If I'm on solo it'll mean that we'll be away from Konoha for weeks or months at a time," Itachi said.

"I know," Sasuke said. And he did. ANBU ninjas who did solo missions exclusively were often assigned project-like missions, where for a sole purpose ninja had to know how to plan his own sub-missions in order to get to the objective. This was why drafting for solo ANBU was a tedious task. Only the best of the creamed crop had a chance of getting in.

Itachi threw the pillow into his little brother. "It's a right pain in the butt being your brother, Sasuke. If you scream sibling abuse even once I'll punt you back to Konoha straight away, understand?"

Sasuke grinned. "Hai, hai."

Itachi flopped off his bed. "I'll go get the paperwork, but you'll be doing it for me."

Sasuke glared at his brother. But both of them did not miss the half-smile dancing on each other's lips. It was the closest thing to brotherly love they had potrayed for a long time.

_Pain in the butt, huh?_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After blowing up Kazeden and its crew, Kazuya and Haku had stopped by a ramen stall for a short lunch before getting back to their room. Before they climbed the steps, they already knew someone was inside.

Kazuya and Haku exchanged dark looks. Kazuya activated his three pin Sharingan, and Haku brought three senbon out. Acting casual, they stepped in.

Kazuya frowned at the familiar black cloak and red clouds and wavered. The tall figure with spiky maroon hair had been standing by the window, but now he turned around. His gray eyes were peculiar, and the side of his nose was dotted by two nose piercings. "That was an impressive fight."

"Thank you."

The Leader looked at him, then turned to Haku. "Both of you are the youngest members of Akatsuki, but we will not entertain any uncalled for moves, understand?"

"Yes, sir. We may be young, but we aren't amateurs either. Ryoma Hebizo knew we were here. Someone had to tip him off."

"It was a bonus that you took care of the Kazeden for me."

"Why?"

The Leader's eyes narrowed. "Because joining the Akatsuki doesn't earn my respect. Passing the initiation does. What the both of you have done for us has been no more than a Hokage's death. That Sandaime was an old and withering fool, waiting to be pushed over the edge. Any S-ranked nin could have done that. But not every S-ranked ninja could have killed his entire clan, or made the Yondaime Kazekage into his puppet, catch my drift?"

"You want us to prove our net worth by doing something as impressive as that," Kazuya said.

"Of course," the Leader replied, almost arrogantly. "We have no intention to share the fruits of our labour with second-rated men who leech off our efforts."

Haku frowned. "We will not disappoint you. What will you have us do?"

The Leader smirked for the first time. A scroll dropped into his hand from his long sleeve and he tossed it to Haku, who caught it. He said, "The scroll contains all the statistics you will need to know about the Sannin. Their name surpasses that of your dead Sandaime, and they have youth and experience on their side. United or not, your fight will leave you half dead, like your fight with the Sandaime. The Akatsuki will not have their names tainted in that way."

They nodded.

"Any member of the Akatsuki should be able to handle a fight with an S-ranked nin better, especially if there's a two against one ratio. I want a clean cut, got it?"

"Hai."

The Leader smirked again. "We will meet again in three year's time. By then I will expect a deposit of five million credits in the fund."

"Hai." _So the first course of action is already in motion. _

In a disappaiting purple mist, the Leader dissolved into the air, leaving the two new Akatsuki operatives feeling slightly insulted. Evidently, killing the Sannin would add to their reputation and credibility in the Ninja World. Every motion was obviously geared towards their ultimate objective of world domination.

Haku looked at the scroll in his hand, then looked at Kazuya. "There will be a lot of preparation if we are to satisfy our Leader's needs."

"That is to be expected," Kazuya said. "If in every village or city we pass through and take the most expensive targets on the bingo board, we will be able to stock up five million while training ourselves and increasing out experience."

"Deal," Haku said seriously.

Kazuya smirked. "Huh. Well, good job on your performance earlier on."

Haku looked at the boy. "Huh?"

"I mean, you didn't piss your pants or anything, congratulations. I was half expecting you to scream like a girly… you look the part.. And don't worry, no one missed that you were bein awfully polite there-" Kazuya chuckled as a scroll sailed for his head.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes. The three year timeskip officially begins.

On second thought, is this chapter a little rushed? I have half a mind to scrap this chapter and write it the next time I'm free…. Which will be when? So in the end it is out on the world wide web….

So! Sakura gets Tsunade easier than expected. Yes the Godaime's a little woozed in the head, but she'll be fine after three years of calming down under mounds of paperwork that she brought onto herself. I've left so many strings undone I'll go back and fish them out, then tie them when I come back.

WaRnInG: I am busy as of late. My grades aren't amazing and I've got loads of things to rush. Five projects can leave you like that. So I'll have to apologise before hand if I can't update for three weeks.

Thanks for reading, and… leave a review!

Ja-ne


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight Three Stars Crossed

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto only. **

**Two years ago, I was so sure I would never be able to continue this… I'm so sorry for this ridiculously late update. I wrote this yesterday. I lost everything I originally intended to take this story to and reworked a very different new plot. If everything goes according to plan, there are only four chapters left to my first fanfic. Frankly, this fic feels like a ball slipping from my fingers.**

**Thank you Edengrave.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Twenty Eight- Three stars crossed**

A year and a half is short. And yet humans are creative and intelligent beings; some are able to accomplish a lot in that time. For five hundred and forty-five days, Sakura slogged constantly, before dusk to midnight, until her foundations as a medic was welded into her soul. While most took three years, she was qualified to work in Konoha Hospital as a full time healer. By Tsunade's calculations, it would take Sakura two years to become an expert able to take on tasks such as the head surgeon of a complex surgery or experiment, and another three to reach Tsunade's level at her age. Haruno Sakura, who had never been outstanding, other than her Academy-level theory grades, had been forced under certain circumstances to exceed most ninjas.

Now, Sakura was accompanying Tsunade on a diplomatic visit to the Hidden Sand, along with Shizune. Tsunade would show her rare desert herbs in the Hidden Sand's greenhouse at night after her daytime Hokage duties. They had a two day journey left.

"Sakura, fetch some water," Tsunade ordered.

"Hai!" Sakura replied. She had heard a stream running before they stopped at this resting place. Collecting Tsunade's, Shizune's, and her water bag, she slung them over her shoulder and made off for the supposed stream. It was fifty metres off from her estimation.

Sakura took her time filling the bags with clean water. Truth be told, she was weary, not just from the trip, but also her training so far. Tsunade seemed to know how possessed she was to become strong, and pushed her past her limits all the time. The only time she had off was during her scant sleep, short mealtimes and her birthday. Once she was done, Sakura took off her sandals and sat by the bank, enjoying the crisp cold water flowing about her ankles. She hummed a song and thought of things.

Naruto had disappeared along with the Toad Sannin Jiraiya, only with the occasional postcard of the places they had visited. Sasuke had gone with Itachi to the mountain ranges of The Land Of Lightning for some mission. As for her personal situation… her mother had moved out to another village in Fire Counrty. They corresponded by mail, and their relationship, maintained by words, was improving slowly. Once she got the chance, Sakura was determined to visit her mother.

An explosion brought Sakura out of her thoughts. The sound of earth splitting apart was so familiar, it could only be done so easily by Tsunade. Water bags clutched in her fist, she was on her feet in an instant. Slipping into her sandals, Sakura ran to the source of the sound, because that was where her master and Shizune were sitting. The explosion was very loud, too loud for Tsunade to just be teasing Shizune.

Sakura reached the resting point in two minutes. All she could think of was _Too late. _Shizune lay at her feet in a pool of water and blood. Puncture holes covered her shirt. The glint of sunlight reflecing off water caught her eye and Sakura leapt to the side. Ice needles swept past where she was standing.

A stray name popped up in her head as she saw the needles. _Haku…?_

That seemed like a very ridiculous thought to flash in her mind, but nothing seemed impossible anymore, not with the boy she knew as Rukawa facing a tree opposite her, a wrinkled, blond woman at his feet. Her breath died in her throat, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Rukawa turned around. Sharingan eyes swept past her to Haku. Both of them were wearing black cloaks with red clouds.

"I'm not feeling too good," Rukawa said. "I think the bitch did something to my back, I can't bend well. You'll have to get her head now, Haku."

"Whatever, you thin bastard," this "Haku" replied.

Sakura watched as Haku walked towards Tsunade, pulling out a knife from his sleeve. Something was screaming at her to move, to kill them, to run away, but all she could do was just stare. There was something so unreal about this sudden development of events. Haku bent down and began sawing. As he worked with his knife, he asked, "What about her?"

Sakura fell to her knees, her vision spinning a little. She did not realise that she had yet to breathe. All she could do was be transfixed by swirling Sharingan orbs, getting closer and closer. A fist knocked her over. Fear flooded Sakura.

"I'd rather they found her dead body elsewhere, other than just another corpse companion to the Godaime's. Don't you agree?" Rukawa enquired, believing Sakura to be unconcious.

"Then that's settled. I'm done."

"One down, one to go. The Leader had better be satisfied with this. We're doing everything earlier than he's expected."

Sakura lay on the ground, eyes closed, until she was sure that they were gone. Then she got her feet shakily. Trembling, she checked that both Tsunade and Shizune were really dead. They were. Rukawa and Haku were Akatsuki now, and they had killed her teacher. "One down, one to go." All she could think of was Jiraiya, because Tsunade was a Sannin and Orochimaru was out, so there could only be Jiraiya, and somehow that all made sense. In other words, she had to find Naruto.

Perhaps it was shock that led Sakura to act this way, to think not as a compassionate human but as a Konoha medic. Undoubtedly, grief would come later, when she took a break.

She burned the corpses, then took off for the south, water bags still strung around her shoulder. Naruto's last postcard had been from one of the onsen there. She remembered it.

Hey Sakura!

Ero-Sennin and I are in this really cool hotspring

in Hell's Mountain. He's teaching me this super

jutsu, I think. But maybe he just wants to get go

with the girls, because they have mixed onsen here

and he's getting material for his book. (I'll send you

a copy once it's done.) I feel like we're gonna spend

a long time here, believe it!

Naruto

Sakura broke through bushes and leaves. She ran up a fallen log and jumped to the branches of a tree above, then began conventionally leaping from tree to tree. This carried on for a few hours, then sun broke. Sakura stopped to pop soldier pills into her mouth, which should last her three days. Energy boiling through the tips of her toes, she continued her journey. In this frenzy, trees, fields and lakes passed in a flash. The soldier pills wore off, and Sakura went against her basic training by popping more. Hell's Mountain came into view on the fifth day, and Sakura was dragging her feet against the dirt. She threw the empty water bags behind her. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute. Entirely focused on warning Jiraiya and Naruto before Rukawa and Haku got to them, she emptied the last of her soldier pills.

It took eight hours to get to the mountain. It took three more to find Naruto's onsen and his room number.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted as she wrenched the door open. His name forced through her mouth in a gargled rasp.

"Sakura!" Naruto took her as she collapsed. "What… Why are you… You heard? So fast… I thought-"

Was she too late? It hurt to ask. "Where's Jiraiya-san?"

Naruto's dim blue eyes softened. "You didn't hear… He… He's dead. He got carried away in the hot spring. He passed out with one of the girls and they drowned."

"What?"

Naruto's face broke and tears slipped through his narrowed eyes. He sunk to his knees, bringing Sakura with him. "They drowned, he drowned. I should've checked up on him earlier…"

"Naruto- It's not…"

"It is my fault! I should've been there," Naruto cried. "Stupid perverted Sennin, him and his stupid sex. I mean, I'm so sorry."

Sakura wanted to tell him that he got it all wrong, that Jiraiya could not have died by drowning in a hot spring, because high-ranking ninja did not do that, especially not a Sannin. But she had failed her sole objective over the past six days, and it was all her mind could register before Sakura sank into a deep sleep. She dreamt long and hard. She was hurtling through branches and leaves in pursuit of Naruto and Jiraiya. They were miles away, too far to hear her calls for them to stop. She could feel eyes watching her, maybe somebody with red Sharingans and an awkward back. The indifferent glare Rukawa had given her sent chills down her back; it was an expression he reserved for steeling his heart to kill.

She woke up uncomfortably in Naruto's arms. Her cheeks were stained with his tears. Naruto was staring at the ceiling.

"I'm really sorry, Naruto."

Naruto grunted. He looked as if he would cry again, so Sakura changed the subject. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Two hours."

"Naruto, I need to see Jiraiya-sama. I don't think he died by accident," Sakura said. Naruto helped her up.

"What do you mean?"

"I came here like this, because I was trying to warn you before the- the Akatsuki came," Sakura said, not wanting to say Rukawa's or Haku's name just yet. She had to get Naruto through this calmly. "Tsunade-shishou and Shizune were murdered, and they let on that they were going to kill the last Sannin, Jiraiya-sama. I came as fast as I could, I was too late. I'm so sorry."

"What are you saying?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Jiraiya-sama might've been killed instead. Please bring me to see him," Sakura said, her green eyes shining.

Naruto slung her arm over his shoulder and they hobbled out of the room down the emergency staircase in the inn, five floors to the basement. It was a small room, cement walls and floor. A single fluroscent rod was tacked to the ceiling. Crates were piled high against the wall, among large cane baskets of fruits covered with newspaper. At the centre of the room lay two tables. On the tabes were human shaped lumps draped with bedsheets. Naruto walked her to the one on the right.

Gingerly, Sakura took a deep breath, then lifted the cover off and screamed.

Where Jiraiya's head should have been were a few apples bunched together. Blood pooled at the neck. It was quite clear that the Toad Hermit's head had been taken as proof of assassination. Sakura released the cloth over the apples and allowed Naruto to back them out of the room.

"Who did this, Sakura?" Naruto asked. The whiskers on his face were darkening. "Did you see their faces?"

"Calm down, Naruto," Sakura said, feeling tired and clinical, still in medic-mode. "I'm certain of this: Rukawa and Haku, that Mist Hunter-Nin we fought on Tazuna's bridge."

Naruto's eyes widened and faded from red to cerulean. Disbelief.

"I'm sure of what I saw, Naruto. And I recognise Haku's advanced bloodlimit technique. Rukawa was using his Sharingan. I'm sure they recognised me, but they just left me alone, saying that they would finish me off some other time," Sakura said bitterly. "They've changed, Naruto. I think they're loyalties lie with the Akatsuki now."

Naruto could see where she was going, and he could imagine it, for even though Rukawa and Haku had been his friends, there was an unspeakable darkness that had surrounded them. He could imagine them, faces blank, as they ruthlessly made away with Tsunade, then come here with some teleportation technique, drug Jiraiya and his girlfriend, and let them drown… before returning for Jiraiya's head.

The thought hardened his heart against them. He could feel his own grief, Sakura's underlying sadness. But beneath their feelings, he knew that there was anger, and he wanted to satiate that ugly feeling.

"Sakura, we have to kill them," he said in his uncharacteristically soft voice. "They betrayed us. We worked so hard for him but he just floated off to the Akatsuki and kills _them._"

They reached Naruto's room. Sakura went straight for the bathroom. "I need to wash up, then rest. Please get me some food and clothes, Naruto."

She shut the bathroom door and stared at her reflection. She knew what she wanted to do, too.

* * *

Haku placed the cheque on the table, two villages away from the village of Naruto and Sakura's onsen, in some shady pay-per-hour motel. Behind him, thin ruby curtains fluttered.

The Leader glanced down at the number 'five' preceding six zeroes, then said, "Both of you have done well."

"Of course," Haku said, before he could stop himself.

"Then again, I expected this of you. If you had taken three years, like I said, I would have to find somebody else to fill your spots.

"Both of you are ready. I've spoken with Tobi. We agree to shift the plan forwards. You will collect your jinchuuriki as soon as possible," The Leader said, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Bitch," Haku muttered. He snatched the cheque off the table and shoved it into his pocket. "What do we do now?"

Kazuya popped the cork of his sake bottle and took a large swig. He loved how the mildly sweet burning taste slid down his throat. "Are you so stupid you can't even do what people tell you to do now? We're getting Uzumaki Naruto, of course."

"Right now?" Haku asked, ignoring his partner's blatant insult. "What about your back? I only just healed it; you're going to need rest."

Kazuya rolled his shoulders. "By the time we get to the pussy it'll be okay. This is the prime time. Naruto's alone, he's not in Konoha, and we know where he was a day ago. We have a hot trail from the onsen, if he hasn't left it yet."

"Alright, alright. I'll work on it tonight. Don't strain yourself," Haku snapped.

He followed Kazuya out of the motel room and locked the door. They walked to where paved roads ended into forest overgrowth, then began running, discussing how to locate Naruto quickly. Consecutive months of assassinations while training up to take down the Sannin swiftly had taught them the finest teamwork Kakashi would have been proud of. It did not matter that Haku was becoming more mellow, or that Kazuya was spinning callously with his alchohol and drugs, for they respected each other for their skill and ruthlessness when coldbloodedness came to play.

They returned to the onsen Naruto and Jiraiya had been residing, ready with an ambush plan.

"There he is," Kazuya muttered. Haku's head turned ever so slightly. The jinchuuriki had taken off his obscenely orange jumper for a more mournful seaweed-colored undershirt. His eyes were tired and puffy, and in his hands he carried food for two and clothes. Immediately the two missing nin knew that they had to reassess their situation.

Haku climbed to the rooftop of the inn, before inching down to where Naruto's room should be. He crouched just above window, ready to swing in for a surprise entrance. Meanwhile, Kazuya followed Naruto up the emergency staircase. Unsuspecting, Naruto went into his room and set the takeaway onto the bed. Sighing, he moved to the toilet and knocked on the door. "Sakura, your clothes."

"Thanks." The door opened slightly and a hand reached out. Naruto placed the shirt and trousers onto it, then turned around, going back to the bed. The takeaways so happened to be steaming cheap ramen. His face was in the ramen; he was sitting crosslegged on the bed; the bed was next to the window; his back was to the window. The opportune moment for an attack by someone at the window.

Therefore, Naruto was in no position to react when he heard glass shattering. Haku flew into the room like a bat, his black cloak flapping behind him. With two needles he forced Naruto into a temporary death situation; no way would the Kyuubi be able to come out when his host was unconcious.

Sakura burst out of the bathroom the same time that Kazuya entered the room for back-up. Meeting eyes with Haku, he knew that his partner had had an opportunity to take down Naruto easily, and had taken it. Now all there was to the job was Sakura, and this time he still felt it was not the time to kill her, for some reason.

_On my whim. _

Green eyes found his own, too stupid a move, no matter how much of a reflex it was. Sakura's face went blank and she went into the toilet, locked the door, and drew another shower.

Haku watched Kazuya and bemusedly slung Naruto over his shoulder. They escaped through the window, descending into the streets, back into the forest. It was late afternoon; the sun would be setting soon. It was incredibly easy to return to the shady motel, place restraining seals over Naruto while they transferred the needles to points that would make Naruto go into comatose.

"Easy job," Kazuya muttered, taking off his shirt, then lying on the bed on his stomach.

Haku removed acupuncture needles from his medical kit. They were smaller and thinner than his usual weapons. Then he began to work on Kazuya. "We were very lucky. Naruto's got the luck of a grim dog."

"Whatever, he's a weak sissy who bothered us when we were weak and stupid," Kazuya muttered. "I'm going to sleep, but call me up if you need me for anything."

"Sure," Haku said. "We wake up in the morning to go to the drop point."

Kazuya mumbled something.

"What did you say?" Haku asked.

"I said, I need more goddam uppers… I'm a royal sleepy fuck now…"

"Just sleep like a normal person, Kazuya," Haku said. "I don't care if you call yourself an insomniac, you're not."

"Fuck off, doc."

* * *

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Sakura screamed. She yelled her head off until she was sure her heart had ripped out of her chest. She hurt so much that she drew a kunai from her weapons pouch and wanted to end her life. She screamed again.

She was like a blazing whore spinning things out of control into hell's steamy pot. Sakura screamed and yelled and shierked. Things could not possibly get worst. She had to find Sasuke and Itachi; the Uchiha geniuses would know what to do. Sakura ransacked the room. She filled Naruto's water bag and survival pack and slung them over her shoulder. There was a full bottle of soldier pills in the front pocket.

She dashed out of the broken window into moonlight that had fallen hours ago.

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm worried that this chapter is too fast. It's about half the average length of previous chapters but it covers the same ground, or more. I decided not to go into detail about how Tsunade and Jiraiya died, because the first segment was dedicated to Sakura's perspective. All this pressure and possible self-blame but she's still functioning like a medic kunoichi. Just how I feel after watching her tremble and sob in 453 when it was uploaded yesterday. She had gotten so far in the canon and then…**

**Please review, they're really great.**


	30. Chapter Twenty Nine Chess

**Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto alone owns Naruto.**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine- Chess**

**

* * *

  
**

Kazuya woke up on his stomach where he had left it. Chilly morning air drifted on his bare back. Groaning, he stiffly rolled off the bed and slipped his shirt on. His back was feeling looser now. The bitch of a Hokage had used some technique which caused internal damage to his backbone, and effectively the nervous system, which caused him to go numb. At least Haku had researched the human anatomy well in his Hidden Mist training.

He went to his travelling pack and leafed through the clothes to a small clear cylinder. Unscrewing the cap, he took two pills. For fifteen minutes it would give him a headache, then he would be properly energized.

Washing up, Kazuya sat on the bed and waited for Haku to return. He guessed the long-haired andro had gone for breakfast. Naruto was slumped in the corner, out like a light. Kazuya wondered if he should kick his former teammate in the balls just to see if he would respond, then decided it was not worth it. He had a long time to think about this, and realised that a sadistic revenge would just be admitting that he was affected by their betrayal, as if he was. All he wanted to do was kill them swiftly.

They were set to reach the Leader in a week in some cave west of the Hidden Sand. It was slow but necessary travel. With the Sannin assassinations, Haku and he had set up a seal at Jiraiya's onsen, then tracked down Tsunade. Once they had killed her, it was a simple matter of summoning themselves to the onsen seal. The Leader was professionally cautious. A teleportation seal could be exploited by hunter nins, so all Akatsuki members met by foot travel.

"I'm back."

"I can see you, bitch," Kazuya muttered. "What'd you get?"

"I found this interesting restaurant from one of the Eastern Islands. They're selling some pancake-flatbreads. What I've got here is a green onion pancake. They call it Caoyobing."

Haku was always into the curious-discovery-of-cultures rubbish. Kazuya took one of the pancakes. 'Salty, fragrant, chewy' was all he thought of it. They finished the food quickly, then Haku hoisted Naruto over his shoulder again, and they were off.

"What do you think they'll do with Naruto?" Haku asked.

Kazuya shrugged. "Unseal the Kyuubi and we absorb its power? This organisation is stupidly need-to-know. We know everyone's name and abilities except for the leader, and we don't even know what we're going to do after we get the jinchuurikis together. Just world fucking domination."

"You keep a clean mouth for the Akatsuki," Haku commented.

"There's something about all these bitches that frustrate the hell out of me," Kazuya muttered.

"Exactly!" Haku said. Kazuya stared at him. The ninja looked like he had been wanting to talk about this for a long time. Haku continued, "Ever since Shisui revived me… Sometimes, it's weird, like my memory's been tampered with. I recall things contradictory to what I think I know."

"You were dragged out of hell, of course you'd be psychotic," Kazuya said.

"No. No, no," Haku said. "Forget it."

Kazuya wondered at this. Haku was a skilled ninja but was too polite. He swore sporadically and tried to be too understanding. It was as if hell had mixed him up and tamped down his unwillingness to kill while amplifying his human kindness. As such, Haku rarely said something meaninful that revealed himself, and hardly expressed dissent for the Akatsuki. _So, Haku had to be really doubtful to say something like that._

"What things do you recall," Kazuya asked.

"I don't know… I remember Naruto to be something… more."

It's because he's holding Naruto. Shisui's memory altering is fucking up with Naruto being so close to him. Shisui made him think that Naruto killed him and Zabuzza. Naruto's fucking it all up. Haku's fucking up.

It never occurred to Kazuya that if Shisui had replaced Haku's memories, then his own could have been displaced. He said, "Don't worry about it. Maybe you'll remember when we get the Kyuubi out of him."

This did not seem to placate Haku. His face still wore than same troubled frown.

"I'll carry Naruto for a while," Kazuya said. _Maybe if Naruto wasn't so close Haku'll stop thinking. _

"No, it's okay," Haku said.

_Usually he'd be all for me showing some sort of kindness. _Haku was losing it. Kazuya knew now the ninja might betray him to escape with Naruto, then find out who the hell Naruto was to him.

"Don't worry about it," Haku said.

"I'm not," Kazuya replied. The journey lapsed into silence.

-----

The team ambushed them as they were reaching the borders of Fire Country. It was a Leaf Genin team, with a young-looking Jounin mentor.

"Black cloak, red clouds, you're Akatsuki!" One of the kids yelled.

Haku put, not dumped, Naruto on the ground.

_Is he really fucked, or is it some medical psycho thing that'll pass… _Kazuya had to know, so he said, "Haku, take care of them. My back's not feeling up to it."

"Alright."

The Jounin, a brown haired kunoichi, attacked first. She was familiar with the Wind element, because she threw two shuriken, which cleaved the air in a one metre radius. There was no water for him to create ice barriers, so Haku had to jump out of the way. The Jounin was on him immediately, not unlike Asuma, using kunais with chakra extensions to attack him with melee combat.

Meanwhile, the Genin stood to the side, plotting and defending themselves with kunai. Kazuya stared at them impassively. They were glaring at him very hard. It would be so easy to mesmerise them with his Sharingan and kill them, but he had to wait to see what Haku would do.

Haku's fight with the kunoichi was short. He flicked three senbon at the Genin, and when the kunoichi went to help, he got her in the knees. As she crumpled to the ground, he broke her neck.

Kazuya watched as Haku approached the Genin.

"Your mentor is dead. The three of you may die now," Haku said coldly.

They were terrified. "Please don't kill us!" Not a flicker of anger for their mentor.

"You weren't meant to be ninja. Go now, before I change my mind and kill you," Haku growled.

They screamed and split up, disappearing into the bushes like rodents.

Haku returned to Naruto and returned the jinchuuriki back to his shoulder. "Let's go. We don't want to be late."

Kazuya followed him wordlessly.

------

"_Naruto._

"_Naruto,_ Naruto. _Get up!_"

"_Wha- Where am I-_ HAK-!"

"_Shh! Not so loud, or you might wake him. Listen, you have to leave now. Or we're going to have to take you to our base and kill you_."

"You killed-"

"_Shut up! Do you want to wake Kazuya up? I don't care. I just realised and I'm so sorry. But you have to leave, this is your only chance to escape_."

Naruto seemed to realise what was happening. For once, Kazuya was impressed by his brain. Usually it was too slow and dense to assess any situation quickly.

"_Okay. Why don't… why don't we take him out, the both of us. Then we can go back to Konoha, and you can come with me_."

Kazuya listened.

"_No, Naruto. I can't do that. You have to leave, now. Please, go. Or you're going to die_."

"_Haku! I won't forget this_."

"_Take this rope and climb down. Your chakra's been sealed for a long time, it'll take a while to get flowing again._"

Kazuya reached under his pillow for the tanto. Haku's back was facing him, lowering Naruto with the rope. Kazuya sprang onto the ninja, sliding the sharp knife into Haku's jugular then pulling it away. The tanto blade made a clean incision, and blood burst like a fountain from his neck. Haku dropped the rope, and clutched at his wound, choking. The rope slipped from the window, and Kazuya heard a loud shout and a heavy thump. He kicked Haku, once in the head, to break his neck. It snapped with a crunch and he was still.

Kazuya peered over the window. Naruto was running away. He ducked back into the room, gathering his belongings as fast as possible, and slipping on his shirt and Akatsuki cloak. Then, he jumped out of the window and hit the ground running, chasing down the yellow speck of hair in the distance.

The night was dark and the streets were empty. It was dawn. Naruto was sprinting very quickly even though he had been in a coma, probably a perk of being jinchuuriki. Kazuya thought, _I can run flat out for another two miles, then I might lose him._

Naruto disappeared into the trees, running as fast as he could. "Kazuya! How could you kill him! He was your partner!"

Kazuya ignored him and pumped his legs faster. Maybe Naruto would forget that he was weaker than Kazuya at the moment and stop and turn around to fight. _Fat fucking hope. _

Two miles passed in a flash, and Kazuya knew his breath was coming up short. Naruto slowed a little, too, but still ran like a lion. Kazuya pressed on. They chased like this, running all the way, not daring to slow down to draw a weapon in case the other would get away or catch up. Dawn slipped into twilight, and the grass and trees lit up with purple and pink hues.

Kazuya's heart beat insanely. He had been running as fast as he could for five miles now, and was reaching his limit. Naruto just was not slowing down. In fact, he seemed to be speeding up.

Then Naruto burst with energy, literally. Kazuya felt his chakra ripple through the air like a tsunami, tasting bitter and angry. The yellow speck stopped. Kazuya stopped too. It had not occurred to him that the Kyuubi might come out once Naruto had his chakra back. Immediately the tables were turned on him. Kazuya reached into his pack and got out more drugs.

The yellow speck started running back, now in a shroud of demon red chakra. Naruto's face came into detail, his whiskers etched deep into his face. Kazuya turned on his Sharingan, but the Kyuubi eyes resisted his genjutsu and Naruto just kept getting closer.

"Naruto!"

Kazuya gave a start.

Naruto's eyes widened and he stopped. The red shroud bubbled, then adsorbed onto his skin like a layer of wax. The Kyuubi eyes reverted to cerulean blue. "You're here! Itachi! Sasuke! He killed the old hag, the pervert and Haku!"

Kazuya turned around. Behind him was Itachi, Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura's face was sunken and her eyes were red rimmed. She also looked a little high on drugs, like he was. Kazuya settled on Itachi's face. Beneath the cold mask he could read other emotions. There was anger, confusion, coldness. That was to be expected. … but the dissapointment. It confused him. It stung a little. _What does he want? My apology after he fucked me over?_

Itachi spoke first. It was clear he was assessing the situation. "Why are you doing this, Rukawa?"

Kazuya was speechless.

"Are you with the Akatsuki now? Did you kill the people Naruto and Sakura say you did?"

"Yes," Kazuya forced out strongly. Looking at Itachi's cold stare now, he wanted to lash out and hurt all of them.

"If you come quietly, this can be very easy, Rukawa."

No matter how angry he was, Kazuya knew that he was royally fucked. Itachi was as good, or better than him. Sasuke looked pretty good, too. Naruto with the Kyuubi, and Sakura as she was… maybe if he targeted her, there would be an opening for him to escape. But he was so very tired after chasing down Naruto. _It couldn't hurt trying. _

"Quietly?" he asked.

"As in surren-" Itachi started.

Kazuya leapt. He bowled into Sakura, who was so high strung and exhausted with soldier pills she could not react, and slammed her into Sasuke and Itachi, then he took off, dispatching smoke bombs. He flooded his feet with chakra and ran as fast as he could. He almost made it, but then a chakra fist closed over him tightly. One moment he was airborne, and next he was smashed into the ground, the dragged backwards. Kazuya closed his eyes tightly, activating his eletricity-based advanced bloodlimit and Sharingan, ready to use it.

However, they deactivated. The Kyuubi chakra fist over him was sucking out his chakra. Kazuya was face down. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw his former team stand around him, high and mighty like he remembered them to be. Probably cheering inwardly that they had him now. He was losing chakra fast. He felt weak, and dizziness licked at his vision.

"There's an Uchiha hideout nearby. We can go there," Sasuke said.

"Fuck going anywhere, you bitch," Kazuya muttered. The chakra fist clenched over him tighter, and he was zooming into darkness, until, until all was black.

* * *

**Author's Note: Reviews would be great.**


	31. Chapter Thirty The End

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. For Masashi Kishimoto, it's another story.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty- The End**

His head felt like one big fuzz. His arms and legs felt like jello, which was uncomfortable because he was used to feeling like he was composed of muscle instead of fats. Then there was his back. Naruto dragging him about must have destroyed every acupuncture session Haku had given him, because he could acutely feel the discs in his spinal cord.

He kept his eyes closed as he searched for his chakra. All the chakra points were blocked. _Must be some seal. _He tugged at his wrists. _There goes the last of my energy. _They rubbed against something thick and rough. It smelt like rope. So he was lying on a bed tied to the bedstand.

"Oh fuck," he said, before he could help it. It seemed to describe his situation aptly.

"He's awake!" That would be Naruto.

Kazuya decided to keep his eyes closed. Officially, he was at their mercy. Maybe they would torture him for Akatsuki intel and then roast him for dinner. Unofficially, he wanted to scream at them until his brain popped out of his skull. And fight every one of them until they died, too.

"Open your eyes," Sakura said, sounding pissed. She would be pissed after he exploited her as the weakest link by pushing her into Sasuke and Itachi. Usually that would be Naruto, but Naruto was surprisingly resilient now. He refused to open his eyes. Fingers took hold of his chin roughly and Kazuya could feel her lean close to his ear as she whispered, "Open your eyes, you murderer, or I swear to kami I'll break open your balls."

Kazuya opened his eyes and fixed her with the most emotionless stare he could muster. He was surprised, that instead of indignation, her face was weary with grief and anger. She was still so sad for Tsunade and Jiraiya? How quaint. What were the Sannin to her?

"Sakura," somebody, Sasuke, said in a tone that clearly meant 'stop what you're doing and get away from him'. Kazuya felt madness cloud his face. _The sullen bitch of the pack._

"Rukawa," Sasuke said. "Why have you joined the Akatsuki? What about Shisui? Why didn't you come back?"

_And get fucked over again? No thanks. _Kazuya said, "Shisui gave me a second chance at life. And I was asked to join the Akatsuki so I did, nothing to it."

"You didn't answer my last question. What about us?"

Kazuya gave a demented chuckle. The Uchiha pussy was seriously demented if he thought he would run back to his cock after getting punked. After all the backstabbing, and the pain, the torture, did Sasuke really think Team Seven would be worth shit to him afterwards?

"Fuck 'us'."

"Enough of this Sasuke, he's clearly _just_ a missing nin now, like all missing nin's are," Sakura interjected. "Why, Rukawa? Why did you kill them?"

"Finally, a rational bitch out of all of us," Kazuya said. "Was ordered to do so, obviously."

"But, why?"

"Haku and I were told that their assassinations would prove our worth to the Akatsuki. Really, though, the Leader probably wants to disrupt Konoha," Kazuya said. It was worthless information he could give.

"Just for that?" Sakura asked.

"Who're they to you?"

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Naruto yelled. He jumped on the bed and laid a punch across his face. "What happened to you that you go all nunekin and become an Akatsuki bitch and fucking, fucking kill…"

Kazuya stared coldly at the Uzumaki. His cheek was swelling up, but he could care less. He dropped his emotionless mask and snarled. Snarled like a sick beast, and let all of his emotions and killer intent wash over all of them. Hoping that it would really make their souls go away, then maybe they would understand him. Naruto hopped off the bed and took a few steps back.

"You're not the Rukawa I know," Naruto said.

Kazuya squinted at Naruto like he were a fly.

"You're not a precious person," Naruto realised. The former dumbass was catching on fast. "You're the enemy."

"He killed Tsunade-shishou and Jiraiya-sama," Sakura muttered. "The penalty in any Konoha court is death."

_Shishou… The Sannin actually took in Sakura?_

"Both of you aren't thinking rationally, get out." Itachi. Kazuya turned his head, and saw him and Sasuke sitting under an Uchiha crest carved into the wall. This was one of those old Uchiha bases where they held meetings or stored weapons when they were in the vicinity, Kazuya remembered. Those were the days when the Uchihas were fighting the Senju Clan of the Forest. Shisui had told him once before, when he was younger.

"Itachi-sensei-" Naruto started.

"No," Itachi said. He got up. "Let's talk outside. Sasuke, keep an eye on him."

"Okay."

Kazuya stared at the ceiling, feeling Sasuke's eyes on him. He hated the feeling.

-----

Itachi returned after a century. Kazuya felt tired, he needed uppers, but he was not about to ask for it from these Uchihas. "What do you want?"

"I've told them to go back to Konoha," Itachi said, referring to Naruto and Sakura. "They'll report that the Sannin were killed by two Akatsuki members. Your name isn't included. What I want to know, before I decide to reveal your name, is what Shisui did. How did he sweet talk you into becoming a nunekin? You were content becoming a ninja with us."

"I told you, Shisui saved me," Kazuya spat. At the irony of it all. "I betrayed him but he still took me back after I myself got backstabbed."

"Who crossed you?" Itachi asked.

"Ask him."

"Me?" Sasuke said. _Like he's bewildered or some shit. _Then the Uchiha's face twisted into one of remorse. "I should have gotten to you faster, intercepted Shisui quicker. I never wanted you to get captured by him, I swear, Rukawa. I swear! But that's no excuse. I'm so, so sorry."

Kazuya had no idea what Sasuke was saying, but he was speaking like it was the truth. He must be a very good actor. Briefly, Haku's doubt flashed in his mind.

"I think there's a misunderstanding here," Itachi said calmly, as intuitive as usual. Kazuya and Sasuke were coming to that conclusion as well. "Rukawa, please tell us what you think happened on that day in the forest, then Sasuke will share his story with you."

Kazuya wanted to know what was going on, what 'misunderstanding'Itachi thought there was. He also wanted to know how Sasuke would weasel out of this one. He recounted everything that happened. How Sasuke and the rest of the team turned on him and offered him up to the enemy to rot. Somehow Shisui knew where he was and rescued him before their torture killed him. He described the events monotonously, as if uninterested.

Then Sasuke told his side of the coin. It was so disjointed from Kazuya's story; they had a fight with Shisui and Kamui and he was captured. _But then that means Shisui… _

Kazuya felt a part of him wish it were true. However, he knew that his memories were real because he did not have and flashes or doubts like Haku.

"What do you think, Rukawa?" Itachi asked. "I fought with Kamui on that day. Naruto and Sakura were there too."

"It's all bullshit," Kazuya muttered. He searched within himself for the necessary hate, but it was gone. _It's like groping in thin air._ His heart and his mind was conflicting. No wonder one of the ninja rules stated not to mix emotions with work. Too confusing. He repeated, "I admit it makes sense, but it's all bullshit."

"It's bullshit that makes sense, Rukawa," Sasuke said. The Uchiha could sense a breakthrough.

Kazuya ran with this warm feeling coursing through his veins. It was as if his heart was happy that Team Seven did not betray him and Shisui had fucked him, even if he knew it was a complete lie. "Okay. Bullshit that makes sense. I won't fucking kill the both of you or anything now, okay? So stop with the twenty questions."

-----

They talked to him. Itachi spoke of how he became an ANBU solo operative, while taking Sasuke as an intern. They described their exploits in the mountain ranges of the Country of Lightning. They were slightly breathless afterwards. Kazuya believed that they had never spoken so much in their life.

A strange feeling poked at him when Sasuke said Team Seven trained because they thought he had been captured by Shisui, instead of betraying him in some mission, and wanted to get strong enough to steal him back. Kazuya could not reconcile these two threads of information.

It seemed all too good and pure to be true.

When they were done, an urge overcame him. Kazuya did not even consider it. He just said, "Please kill me."

Itachi and Sasuke came out of their 'talking' mode at once. Itachi looked alarmed and Sasuke was shocked into anger. "What insanity are you talking about?"

Kazuya thought about it. "I can't see who is telling the truth. Shisui or you? It would be better for all of us if I were dead."

"No, no!" Sasuke sid vehemently. "Look, Rukawa, you… you aren't thinking straight right now because we've just given you a lot of new information. We don't want you dead. You think we worked so hard for you to just let you died now?"

"I killed the Sannin, I killed Haku. You heard Sakura and Naruto. If you think about it from the legal aspect they are right to say I should be killed," Kazuya said, sidestepping Sasuke's question.

"It's totally out of order," Sasuke said.

Kazuya looked at Itachi pleadingly, but the man shook his head.

"I'll go catch some meat for us," Sasuke said. He looked older and more mature as he stood up and left the room.

Kazuya asked, "Why won't you get rid of me, Itachi?"

"It's a stupid request."

"I think you know I need this. If you cared about me, you would do this."

"That's what boyfriends tell their girls before they rape them. Messed up reason."

"Come on," Kazuya coaxed. Itachi's face was adamantly impassive. Kazuya put on his most pleading expression and said lowly, "Please, just do it. Everything'll be easier."

"No," Itachi said. "Your reasons are getting worse, Kazuya. Just stop thinking about it."

Kazuya stared. There was a last resort, the lowest of the low, even worse than begging.

"Even if you let me off now, there'll be the Akatsuki after me… Kamui and Shisui… Itachi, I'd rather die by your hand."

There was silence.

-----

"I caught a pig, we can roast it outside," Sasuke called through the door.

Itachi got up. He sighed and undid the knots over Kazuya's hand. "Alright, I'll do it after dinner."

Kazuya nodded. He was still drained of chakra, so Itachi helped him outside the hideout. They gathered around a fire Sasuke had made. He had drained the pig of blood and Itachi went over to help him barbecue them. Kazuya watched as the brothers worked. If you looked under their cool professionalism, you could feel their brotherly love. Suddenly, Kazuya knew what he had to do. _They'll break up. Sasuke'll be so angry he won't understand. I can't destroy this. _Kami decreed that he regained his conscience like this. Kazuya sighed.

"Itachi, forget it, I want to sleep later."

"Good."

-----

Dinner unclogged his chakra points and Kazuya felt his energy and strength return to him.

They turned in for the night. Kazuya crawled into his bed and waited, staring wide eyed in the dark at the ceiling. Hours passed and he could hear their deep breathing. Stealthily, as he had managed to sneak upon veterans like Tsunade or Jiraiya, he got out of bed, and gathered his things.

He made sure everything was in his pack. Then he stared at the sleeping Uchihas. Perhaps they were telling the truth. Perhaps he really had made bonds with them, and they had given him a few short years of a normal life. They had given a home and comfort. He wanted to say goodbye, but knew that he could not. Steeling himself before he stayed, Kazuya walked out of the door. He would not burden them with his presence. He would live the life of a lone wolf, surviving like a tool that Shisui had created. He had hurt Team Seven so much, it was only right.

He would kill Shisui, put an end to all of this sick misery.

_Sayonara, Itachi, Sasuke._

-----

"Are you going to do this?"

"No. I trust Itachi-sensei knows what he's doing," Naruto said.

"Then I'm not going with you," Sakura said. Naruto opened his mouth, but she took a step back. "I don't want to go against all of you, but neither do I want to cover up for what he did. It's just not right."

"Sakura," Naruto pleaded. "I can't face the Council alone. You know how they're like to me."

"You can," Sakura said. "Besides, they're different. Shishou made some changes to the demographic."

"Really?"

"Believe me," Sakura said. She even forced a tiny half-smile for him. Naruto had not seen her smile the whole time they were getting back to Konoha, and the sight made him feel a little better. He doubted any Konoha Council would meet him without biase.

"Alright. Thanks for accompanying me here, then. See you later."

"Yeah."

With a deep breath, he placed his hand on the handle and pushed the door in.

The room was sound proofed,so he opened the door to a mass of people discussing village matters. Naruto stared at the sight. Instead of the usual dingy old people in their thick white cloaks sitting on their high horses, there were people he recognised. It was mostly made of acting elite jounins, sitting around a large round table. Kakashi, Ibiki, Anko, Shikamaru's father, Chouji's father, Kiba's mother and sister, were the higher ups he could name. Then there were a few ninjas he knew to be the head of the Chuunin, ANBU, Genin departments because it was written on a small plaque upright infront of them. There were ambassadors from the civilian community and the daimyo, too. All that was left was a comfortable green swivel chair that stood out of the blue ones that the rest were sitting on, for the Hokage.

Naruto was stunned, but seeing Tsunade's old seat, he remembered why he was there. The Council had not noticed him and were talking urgently to each other. He cleared his throat and stood at the door awkwardly as they stopped to turn to him. Kakashi found his voice first. "Naruto, what… are you doing here?"

"I've something very important to tell all of you," Naruto said.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked.

"It's, just… Well, Itachi-sensei sent Sakura and I back to report this to the Council, but Sakura's drained from the journey so I'm here by myself," Naruto explained. "The Sannin, Jiraiya-sama and Godaime-sama, they're dead. Assassinated by the Akatsuki."

Everyone of the twenty Council members widened their eyes in shock. This time, Ibiki spoke first. "How do you know that, Uzumaki?"

"Sakura and I confirmed it. Sakura saw the Akatsuki claim the Godaime's head, then she came to warn me about Jiraiya-sensei, but…" Naruto paused for a while, then he continued his story in a dead voice, the only way he knew would keep it from trembling.

The Council regarded him grimly as the pondered over his report. Ibiki spoke again.

"We will, of course, make the necessary memorial arrangements for the Godaime and Jiraiya-sama. For now, the most pressing issue is to relect leaders for Konoha, as I'm sure the Godaime and the Sandaime would have wanted us to do immediately, my fellow Council members, who would you suggest be the temporary Hokage? Shikaku?"

Shikamaru's father, who Ibiki called Shikaku, had raised his hand halfway through Ibiki's suggestion. He said, "Instead of one person, I think we should elect a group of people. More effective. The responsibility of Hokage is very great. I call for a round of nomination."

Naruto stood motionlessly as they voted for Kakashi, Ibiki, Nara Shikaku, Hyuuga Hiashi and Uchiha Itachi.

Kakashi said, "I think we should do something big about the Akatsuki situation immediately. Not only are they targeting Naruto, but they've killed two very prominent members of Konoha. They've also committed other terrorist activities in the other countries, even though they haven't affected us directly. My first action as part of the executive committee is to set up communications with the other villages to coordinate Akatsuki attacks, and set up a group of teams to target the organisation directly. Do you agree?"

There was a collective 'yes' around the table. Naruto was relieved at this. The previous Council would do nothing about this. Now that Jiraiya was no longer around to mentor and protect him, at least this one was doing something. He wondered if they expected him to leave, but there was something he wanted to ask Kakashi in private. The gray-haired jounin looked the most likely person to answer his questions.

He waited outside of the Council room on one of the plastic waiting chairs. The discussion inside, which he could not hear, raged until late in the night before somebody finally opened the door. The Council members started trickling out.

"Thank kami we were able to settle this so quickly," one of them said. "If we dragged this out Konoha would be plunged into chaos."

"Hokage-sama…" another said. "She was becoming really respectable."

At last, Kakashi stepped out, looking weary in his one eye.

"Kakashi-san," Naruto addressed. "Could I ask you something? It's really out of the blue, so…"

"Ask away."

"What happened to the last Council? They looked pretty permanent."

"That would be a story for the Godaime to tell," Kakashi smiled. "Danzo, the leader of ROOTS, a very classified Konoha operation, was planning an uprising. We managed to weed him out before he executed it. Hokage-sama found dirt on the Council as well. Apparently they wanted a more obedient puppet and wanted to replace her with Danzo. So she held trial. Most of them were exiled. Danzo and the Elders, though, were sentenced to death."

Naruto nodded. Then he broke into a wide, feral grin. "That's a really cool final thing to hear about the old hag. Thanks, Kakashi-san."

"It's Kakashi to you, Naruto. No problem. I'll be seeing you around, or will you return to Itachi?"

An odd shadow crossed Naruto's face. "Itachi-sensei has some stuff to do with Sasuke. I'll be here doing missions before they come back. See you."

"Goodbye."

Naruto ran off before he told Kakashi about who, exactly, in Akatsuki killed his favourite old people. He kept his promises to his precious people. _Time to remedy this with some Ichiraku…_

_

* * *

  
_

**Author's Note**: At last the final chapter. A prologue, thirty chapters, then the epilogue, which I will write. There will be two action sequences. One of which is a long fight scene. To be honest, I'm in the middle of the worst exam I've had, other than the big one when I was 12. Completely bullshitted today's Chemistry and English Linguistics papers. There'll be promotions late september, but let's not think about that.

I actually managed to write the whole Uchiha hideout scene in Kazuya 3rd person POV. Then there was the council scene… Just trying to find focus and finish this story for now.

Reviews are better than Danzo's death.


	32. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto alone owns Naruto.**

Before I knew FF I was daydreaming Naruto everyday. I could only go to sleep if I thought about it. Then I read ffs like Naruto Unlimited, The Lazy Uchiha, Never Cut Twice and got inspired to write this. So well, the close to two year hiatus screwed everything up, but it made me embarrassed of what I'd written and forced me to make things clean and closable, which is a good thing, in a way. I have no idea how the canon will end.

* * *

**Epilogue**

**

* * *

  
**

"I got your banging on my knees

The thang is I do as I please

She sang in my jizz, I gave her some fees

Ain't nobody with with taste got my sleaze."

Kirabi smirked into his notepad as he jotted his fresh, mind stopping, heart bopping verse. He muttered to himself, "I'm the fucking in thing ya'll."

It was a scorching afternoon, the sky relentlessly blue with nonexistent clouds.

"Fucking, hot, but in a bad way, ya'll.

Think they'll put me in a pot, but that's not all I got,

I've got a lot to say today anyway and

all of you mudderfuckas gonna rot

like a blood shot

because my flow's hot, it's a shot, show pop.

"Ooh, I'm on a roll today," Kirabi muttered, and he continued to scribble furiously into his rhyming scrap book. "Hachibi, maybe we'll catch a few bitches on tha way and have some fun, yeah?"

Kazuya could not actually hear what the Eight Tails beast said, but he could tell there was a reply, because Kirabi smirked and continued humming. Listening to the Raikage's brother rap was akin to trying to purge yourself from any hip-hop affiliations. Sure, they rhymed, but there was zero rhythm or flow. Kazuya prefered traditional Japanese drums and Samisen, a three string banjo. In his life he had been staking out on a rooftop when he heard one Geisha playing the instrument, and it was beautiful.

Once again, he was lying back on the rooftop idly, listening to Kirabi in the house below him passing the day. Kirabi did three things. He slept from dawn to noon, rapped and ate from noon to evening. Night was his. It was when he trained.

Kazuya had been shadowing this routine for months now. He would turn fifteen tomorrow, and there was nothing special about the day, but he was so bored of stakeout that he wanted to make something out of it. This was his theory. Shisui and Kamui were after the Hachibi; sooner or later they would turn up at Kirabi's doorstep. Kazuya was planning to wait them out, then flush out Shisui like a soggy menstrual pad in a toilet bowl. He had the misfortune of doing this frequently, because the Land of Lightning believed in clogged, unisex water closets.

* * *

Night draped over Lightning Country like any other night. The Raikage tower and his administrative buildings, which were designed as giant yellow lanterns, cast a pink sheen to the dark sky. As expected, Kazuya trailed Kirabi to the cave away from the city. He followed Kirabi up the rocky path silently, his sandals not even crunching the crisp gravel underfoot. Kazuya liked to believe himself as one of the best assassins currently alive. He had five million credits worth of assasinations under his belt, along with the murders of the top two Sannin and the Sandaime Hokage. Personally, he would include Haku, who killed along with him. All in all, Haku's death made him a very big fish.

The trail broke off into grass as they neared the cave. But Kazuya stopped, because ahead of him Kirabi had stopped. There were two figures at the mouth of the cave, donning standard Akatsuki dress of black cloak and straw hat. Kazuya disappeared into the tree beside him. _Shisui, finally. _He expected both of them to wear out fighting Kirabi and Hachibi, because he had seen the jinchuuriki training and he was very good.

"Hachibi, I presume?" Shisui drawled.

"It's Killer Bee to you. Who are you slinky faggots?"

"Nobody that will concern you. We just want that power inside of you. Will you save yourself a lot of pain by surrendering quietly to us?"

"Are my balls made out of spleen

Look at my grin, do I seem so keen?" Kirabi rapped.

"I'll handle this, Shisui," Kamui said softly. Even in the dark Kazuya could see his multi-colored gaze flashing.

Shisui stepped around Kirabi and walked towards the trail. "I'll be waiting for you at the teppanyaki place you wanted to try just now, Kamui."

Kirabi watched Shisui disappear and he looked ticked off. He regarded Kamui shrewdly. "Your lover thinks a wimpy looking fag like you can beef with me."

Kamui opened his mouth to reply, but then Kazuya was already turning away. Shisui walked right by his tree, humming to himself.

* * *

Kirabi sniffed the air. He could smell the weight of blood on Kamui and intuitively knew that the Akatsuki ninja was dangerous. There would be no verse writing for now. Masterfully, he drew all eight blades from the sheath-contraption on his back and threw them up into the air. As they fell in order, he caught one with his right knee, then between his thigh and ribs, two at one go beneath his left armpit and bicep, two again with his left elbow and shoulder, and finally between his teeth.

"Before I kill you, Mister Fucker," Kirabi called out. "Why do you want to capture me? What business do you have with Hachibi?"

"Hachibi is a resource our organisation could do with," Kamui replied. His black eyes flashed purple.

"Hachibi," Kirabi started through his teeth, "says that he'd rather give you a black penis. You're gonna feel my hook."

_Is that so. _Kamui thought. Kirabi seemed to crumple for an odd second, then he pitched forward and started careening like a rattan ball towards Kamui. The awkwardly balanced swords flashed through the air like spikes on a chain. Kamui acted immediately. He blinked his onyx eyes into amethyst. Poisonous fumes rushed out with a _whoosh _of air.

Kirabi plowed straight into the thick cloud. He held his breathe immediately and leapt out of the fog. As he spun out, Kamui's eyes turned red. He raised his hand to his mouth just as an Uchiha would commit to a Grand Fireball. _Katon! Goukakyu no jutsu! _Kirabi fell into the fireball. Suddenly, there was a great roar and red chakra ripped apart the fireball.

Kamui leapt back onto the top of the cave mouth. The smoke cleared, and Kamui was just in time to see Kirabi hurl a sword at him. It was a naiive move for the Raikage's brother, but he supposed Kirabi was getting frustrated from being interrupted twice. Kamui sidestepped the sword and took hold of its handle. He would engage the Hachibi host in close range combat now. Once his fingers closed over the handle, however, Kamui felt a rude spark twitch through his entire system. He fell and crashed into the ground, momentarily stunned by the electricity in the sword.

Howlign, Kirabi ran forward again. A katana flashed. Kamui hopped over it, but then Kirabi's right elbow came down and the blade slashed into his chest. Kamui backed away just in time and mule kicked Kirabi. The man soared through the air and cracked a tree as he stopped in it. _Shit, he got me_, Kamui thought. His eyes turned azure blue and a water dragon bowled into Kirabi. The dragon slung Kirabi high into the night sky, then hit him from above. Kirabi fell faster than free fall and smashed into the ground with ten waterfalls pumelling into him.

Kamui assessed his chest injury. It looked worst that it was. He popped a blood replenishing pill into his mouth and with pressed his palm against the slash. He knew some fundamental healing techniques.

Kirabi's soft growl alerted him. "Time for Number Eight:

"Rari Atto!"

A shudder rippled through the air. Diluted crimson bubbles popped and burst on Kirabi's tan arms. Deformed by the cruel water dragon, the chakra bubbles inflated Kirabi's body and lifted him to his feet. Within moments, he was encovered in a shroad of Hachibi chakra, six tails sprouting behind him. A claw-shaped glove fitted into his right arm.

Kirabi leapt at Kamui, drawing his fist behind him.

"Your turn to burst, Freak Eyes."

Kamui stepped over Kirabi's oncoming fist and twisted around to launch some kuni at him. The tails swatted the daggers away. Kirabi was even more interested in his opponent now. This character was the only one other than his brother who had been able to deflect his Rari Atto punch. Kirabi squatted down, then launched himself at Kamui again, like a cannon ball.

The Akatsuki member blinked, and another water dragon roared. The tails at Kirabi's back reached forward and evaporated the dragon into steam. Kirabi reached forward with his right arm, and the claw-shaped glove extended so fast that it reached Kamui. Kamui bent down, flashing through hand seals for once. He felt the demon chakra burning him for a moment, then his doton technique sunk him into the ground. Kirabi's claw brushed past him.

Kamui reappeared at a corner of the trail, then ran into the cave. He had to rethink his strategy. His multiple-element advanced bloodlimit worked well against any opponent except a jinchuuriki who had a good relationship with his demon, or so it seemed. He could neither approach Kirabi long range, middle range, nor close range. Genjutsu would be out of the question. Hachibi would be able to get Kirabi out of the genjutsu at any time. Kamui was not too worried by this. When a ninja cannot access his ninjutsu, genjutsu or taijutsu skills, he simply turns to the fundamentals.

Itachi had mentioned this to his fresh genin team Team Seven, "Ninja Lesson Thirteen. A jounin with a leaf is more dangerous than a genin with a kunai." Essentially, everything boiled down to skill. Kamui was confident that he was well above Kirabi and Hachibi combined. He covered the cave ceiling easily.

"Hiding in a hole won't do you any good," Kirabi called out as he stepped into the cave. Kamui's eyes flashed gold, glowing in the absolute darkness. Kirabi was drawn to the light like a moth. Kamui split into two clones, then one ran to the side while another activated a genjutsu.

The jinchuuriki was still for two seconds. Kamui ran into him and pulled him into a bear hug, flinging them both into the ground. It was a wrestler's takedown move. The demonic chakra spilled into him but Kamui did not care. Then Kirabi woke up from the genjutsu. "Illusions don't work well on me, bitch."

"They work well enough," Kamui retorted. His original body stood at the mouth of the cave and raised his hands together into a typical chakra concentrating seal. Above them, pasted all across the cave ceiling, was a web of exploding notes. Kamui injected chakra into them, and they exploded with several loud bangs. The ceiling cracked, then crumbled. The entire cave buried Kirabi and Kamui's clone. The mass was enough to kill a hundred jounin exerting all of their chakra.

Through the big mound of rock, he heard a soft murmur.

"Freak Eyes, you've pushed me this far, I'll give you that.

You're like puss in boots, pretty phat.

Now you must meet my true form, right off the bat."

Kamui narrowed his eyes and focused alertly on the rock. He should have known a developed jinchuuriki like Kirabi would not be so easy to knock unconcious. The cave remains shivered, the burst apart like dynamite. Kamui twisted away from the oncoming rocks easily, but before he knew it, octopus-like tentacles were stretching towards him, brown with suction rings on them. He knew he was staring at one of Hachibi's tail. Dodging the swipe, Kamui alighted on the tail and ran up as quickly as he could.

Hachibi was huge. He was as large as the cave. Kamui espied Kirabi sinking, sleeping, into Hachibi's body. His eyes flashed yellow, because lightning traveled the fastest. _If I can just disrupt his transformation-_

"Gaargh!" Kirabi screamed. Electric bolts attacked Kirabi like hornets to a honeycomb. His eyes snapped open. As he woke up, Hachibi let off a guttural bellow that rustled the leaves of the forest. Off in the distance, from his height vantage on Hachibi's head, Kamui saw lights in the Lightning Country city flicker. Then Hachibi collapsed into itself, and they fell to the ground. Kamui rolled forward to break his fall, while Kirabi smashed into the earth, unconcious.

He had to leave the scene quickly before the Rai ninjas came. Kamui pulled out a scroll snapped to his belt under his cloak and unfurled it. On the long parchment was a single seal. Kamui walked over to Kirabi, took off his cloak and drapped it over the jinchuuriki, and with a bite of his thumb, sealed Kirabi inside. Then, he rolled up the scroll and stowed it away again.

Kamui sighed with fatigue, and went into the forest. He was feeling sore and drained.

He reached the city without interruption. He could hear ninjas rushing to the forest, but nobody suspected him because he was not wearing the definable Akatsuki cloak. However, a group of teenage girls giggled when he passed by. He was wearing a gray tank top and black pants. "He's so pale; beautiful like an angel", they whispered. To his mind, they were mad. To be called an angel was an insult.

The teppanyaki restaurant was overcrowded when he got there. But as he entered the shop, something was very wrong. Everybody was standing as if around a circular boundary. The men in front were muttering angrily, the women behind peeking behind fingers. Babies and children were at the back, in the corners with their older sisters or mothers, crying. Kamui could not see Shisui. He slipped through the crowd like a fish slips through water. Then he stopped.

Standing behind a stick thin commoner who reeked of opium, he saw a man lying face down on the ground in a pool of deep blood. The man had orange hair, but Kamui knew Shisui well enough to tell that it was him. Backing away just as smoothly as he had entered, Kamui left the crowd, then the restaurant all together. _Who killed Shisui? He would have to be very skillful to have caught Shisui off guard. But there's no character to the murder other than the fact that it was very cold-blooded; I couldn't feel any emotion back there. And a knife to the throat? Anyone can do that. _

_Shisui… _Kamui lamented briefly. Then he paid his first and last respects to the kamis above for Shisui's untimely entrance to hell.

* * *

Sasuke sat on the bunk in his ANBU living quarters. He rarely received letters, but he had one now, from the Land of Water. He knew nobody from there, but he could guess who sent it. With passive eagerness, he tore open the envelope and shook out the folded paper, and read:

----

Uchiha Sasuke

I write this letter because I have some things to tell you, but can't go to Konoha, or won't tell you in ago I left your brother and you so abruptly at the Uchiha hideout, and I think I should explain that. I realised that my sudden hate for Team Seven could have been fabricated just as Haku's memories had been meddled with by Shisui. Unwilling to remain as your enemy no matter my bitter feelings, I thought that by killing Shisui I could accomplish something. I killed him, and I did get my memories back. But I have no excuse for the things I've done. I apologise for the people that I killed and for distrusting you.

After his death, I wandered around the Ninja World, and experience new things everyday. I've worked at a blacksmith's, three ronin houses, a ramen shop, an onsen and have now settled at a dojo, at least for a few months. The cook needed a helper. I wash his things, run his errands and assist him in meal preparation, but I still get paid less than him. It's amusing.

Sometimes I cross the paths of hunter-nin. Unfortunately we cannot part quietly, but I am still alive. The fights keep me active with my ninja skills and they remind me of the time I had living in the Uchiha Mansion. Now, not speaking to you face to face, I am not ashamed to say that I miss it.

Thank you.

p.s. It's 1st July today. Maybe this will reach you in time... Happy seventeenth birthday.

----

Kazuya had not signed off. Knowing him, he would be too embarrassed to even ask for a reply. Sasuke checked the back of the envelope, and grinned. There was a return address. That would be Kazuya's typical, disguised cue that he was hoping for a reply, other than the fact that he had mentioned, in passing, of course, that he would be staying at the dojo for a few months.

Other than the old awkward social habits, Kazuya had changed. The letter was formal. He was probably hesitant and did not know how Sasuke felt about him, but Sasuke had forgiven him the minute they found him gone, and thought about him sometimes between his ANBU missions. He was officially captain of a six man team. From the letter, though, Kazuya's outlook had changed. It was whimsical and brighter, not cold and secretive. Sasuke missed his younger brother even more.

He went to his desk and cleared away the files of mission reports and got out a clean sheet of foolscap, and a pen. He would be very glad to corresspond with Kazuya, so he began to write.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading this far. Don't understand how you could, but thanks, it means a lot.**

For this chapter, I had to go to wikipedia for some background info, then the manga and reread the chapters of Kirabi/Hachibi/Hawk interaction to get a feel of Kirabi because I had no idea how to write the fight. I came up with the shittiest rap verses I could think of, and incorporated some of the manga scenes to make Kirabi come out a little, because I do a poor job of him like that.

I decided not to describe Shisui's execution and leave Kazuya's (3rd Person POV) perspective entirely after the Killer Bee stalking scene because it just felt right, especially with the letter at the end.


End file.
